


A Missing Piece

by Always_Dreaming, DanisAngel26



Category: MotoGP RPF, Motorcycling RPF
Genre: Forbidden Love, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Overacting, Phone Sex, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-02-27 16:02:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18742363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Always_Dreaming/pseuds/Always_Dreaming, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanisAngel26/pseuds/DanisAngel26
Summary: Now Dani and Marc are in different teams, life isn't the same. When they realise they have deep feelings for each other, their budding relationship faces all sorts of obstacles- different schedules, technical secrets and interfering team members.





	1. A Difference

**Author's Note:**

  * For [F1_rabbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/gifts).



> Again I've taken a drabble and made it into a long fic.

Marc looked over sadly at the other side of the Repsol garage. Instead of the smiling face of his previous team mate he saw the sulky face of Jorge Lorenzo. He was always complaining and Marc was getting more and more sick of him. Nothing was ever right—the engine, the seat, the tyres, the way people treated him. Nothing was right for Jorge.

He sighed and wished that Dani was back again as he sat there sipping his energy drink. He fell into a daydream about Dani—all the fun they had, with the tractor races and the dancing they did in Indonesia and the general happiness and fun they had together. That was all in the past now though…

He didn't know when he’d see Dani again. The KTM tests were held at different times to the races, he’d be very lucky to see Dani at all this year. He gave a big sigh. 

“What's the matter?” asked Santi, appearing at his left side.

“Oh you know. Life’s just not as fun as it used to be,” said Marc. 

“Well I've got news for you,” said his fatherly crew chief. “Next race, the KTM testers are going to be there, both Dani and Mika because they’ve got something going on. I don't know what but you might be able to speak to Dani.”

Marc slumped in relief and felt joy flooding his body. May be he could snatch a few words with Dani and have a laugh instead of always suffering from the dour and irritable Jorge. In the media, Jorge had said he had a love hate relationship with Marc, but at the moment the younger rider only felt the hate side of it for him. Or not even that—he just felt indifference to his complaints.

He put Jorge out of his mind and focused on the next race which was at Jerez. He began to plan how he would somehow get speak to Dani whatever happened, even if he had to disguise himself to have a quick word his lovely former team mate. He laughed aloud, not quite as loudly as normal, but it was enough to make Santi say:

“That’s better! It’s time you cheered up a bit.”


	2. A Celebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani gets his awards.

The ‘something going on’ for KTM was the presentation of Dani’s Angel Nieto award, and unveiling of his monument at turn 6. Dani felt flattered and overwhelmed to be given such praise and acclaim. The casual way Repsol Honda had treated him after 13 years of dedicated service had not gone unnoticed by him, and other people, so it was gratifying to get some acknowledgement of his dedicated hard work.

It had also been gratifying to move on and go somewhere different, where his ideas and input were valued. Dani really liked his new job at KTM, it was much more like a family there. Everyone was pleased to see him, they hung on his every word and he didn't miss Repsol at all. 

There was one thing he didn't like about working at KTM though. He missed the loudness, giggling, and silliness that Marc brought to his life. Pol was quite silly, and Mika, Hafizh, Johann and Miguel were friendly and welcoming but somehow they weren’t as much fun and he didn't know them as well. Everyone was really nice but they weren't Marc. 

He could hardly wait for the weekend to arrive and when it did, he got into a state worrying about what to wear. Luckily, his younger brother was on hand to sort out his wardrobe. Eric was an expert on fashion and looking good, so he picked out some clothes for Dani to wear for the award presentation.

Of course Dani wanted to look smart and professional to accept his award and corner dedication but there were other reasons. He wanted to show Repsol Honda he hadn’t slunk away from them defeated and bitter, but the main reason was that he wanted to look good for Marc. 

Marc was younger and more handsome than him, and so Dani didn’t want him thinking he was just some old, retired man. he wanted to look cool and attractive and—and—he wasn’t sure what he wanted. He just wanted Marc to still like him.

Dani and his parents went to Jerez for the presentation and his stomach was full of butterflies. What would he say when he saw Marc again? They’d been texting each other of course and even phoning, but it wasn’t the same as actually seeing him.

When Dani went into the presentation room to get his award, he searched for Marc and it wasn’t hard to see him. As usual, he was almost bouncing up and down with excitement, and his eyes met his former team mate’s.

He leapt across the room and hugged Dani tightly, making no pretence of being cool or nonchalant.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” he exclaimed, much louder than everyone else.

Dani almost fainted into his arms, half amused and half overcome with joy. “I’m glad to be here,” he mumbled against Marc’s shoulder.

“Come and sit down.” The younger rider pulled him towards the chairs. “How have you been? How are your injuries?” He pointed to Dani’s collarbone area, his fingers so close to touching that Dani nearly pushed forward so they would.

_Calm down. Don’t be so obvious._ The older rider tried to keep his breathing under control.

“How does it feel to be retired now? I’m sorry I haven’t been good at keeping in touch.”

“You’ve been fine, Marc, don’t worry.” He beamed.

“It’s not the same without you there at Repsol. Jorge is always whinging.”

“He’s always like that, don’t you know.” Dani just couldn’t stop smiling and he was pleased to see that Marc was the same. Although he always smiled, the older rider felt like he always got a special smile of Marc’s which actually reached his eyes and filled them with affection. He could have just sat there gazing at his handsome ex-team mate forever.

The pair of them chatted for a good while, they gazed into each other’s eyes all that time, and when someone interrupted to say the awards were now going to be presented, a look of annoyance crossed the younger rider’s face. He put his arm round Dani to usher him to the presentation and again, the shorter man felt faint.

The award ceremony was wonderful. Dani felt seen, appreciated and loved, and everyone clapped, Marc even cheered.

Then it was Marc’s turn to receive his award and he smiled broadly at the presenter. But his warmest smile was directed at Dani.

The last ceremony of the day was the unveiling of Dani’s sculpture at turn 6 of the track. He was disappointed that Marc wasn’t there, but he’d received a mysterious text from him.

_I’m so, so sorry I can’t come to the ceremony. I’ve been told it’s not appropriate and unfortunately I have to obey my team and sponsors. Hope to see you soon xoxoxo._

Dani worried about this strange message all through the corner ceremony. Why wasn’t it appropriate? Surely Marc could attend in plain clothes. Who had told him this? He suspected his old enemy Alberto Puig…But he put that horrible thought out of his mind and focused on the wonderful sculpture, the pride of his parents and the officials, and his own warm feeling of being appreciated and loved by all, for once.

A few Repsol team members had congratulated him on his awards, so that was something. but it was a new chapter in his life—a new team, team mates, crew and bike. He just hoped he could keep his ex-team mate in his life.


	3. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc misses Dani.

Marc was taking a rare few moments off on Friday night, watching TV in his room and preparing for the qualifying tomorrow. The shows he was watching were just drivel, he wasn’t even paying attention but just letting his mind wander.

He had been so happy to sit next to Dani at the award presentation…but furious to be prevented from going to the turn 6 ceremony. He’d wanted to argue and talk back to Puig about this decision, but being older and wiser than when he first started racing in MotoGP, he bit his tongue.

Puig was always ranting about something—either that or getting far too enthusiastic about what he thought Marc ‘should’ do. The champion was becoming a little annoyed by him…he wasn’t a current rider, and he wasn’t even a champion—how did he know what Marc should do with his bike.

But he knew he had to keep calm if he wanted the support of the team behind him. Thank god for Santi—always there, always unflustered and helpful.

The new team mate however…Marc wasn’t impressed by his attitude. He hadn’t expected Jorge to be as supportive and calm as Dani and he hadn’t been wrong. Jorge was always dissatisfied about something—the bike, the tyres, the speed of the crew, the state of the garage, the weather. He was turning into Cal…there was always something wrong.

Marc snorted at the thought of Jorge turning into Cal. Why waste time thinking about either of them? Dani was much more interesting. He’d forgotten how cute and good looking the short rider was, and how calm, gentle, wise, affectionate…all those valuable qualities. As well as a genius riding his bike.

How he missed Dani. It was like an ache in his heart. He’d wanted to hug him tightly today and never let him go, but that wouldn’t be very professional and anyway, Dani might not appreciate it. Dani had a new team now—new colleagues, a new life.

He wondered…IF Dani got close to someone in the KTM team, who would it be? Pol ? He was the excitable type like himself. Dani might like the excitable type, but Pol was much blonder than Marc, was that Dani’s type? Or the very good looking Miguel? He was dark, swarthy and mysterious—far more of a threat. Johann was too morose for Dani, surely. Hafizh was married, so Dani wouldn’t break up a couple. Marc almost giggled, thinking of Dani as a marriage wrecker. That would NEVER happen.

Marc began plotting how he could see Dani again. There were the test days after the race…that would be the best time. He could maybe meet Dani on neutral ground between Honda and KTM. He could wear neutral clothes with no logo—they both could, as a disguise! Or maybe he could invite Dani back to his trailer! He could send Alex off somewhere to keep him out of the way—this was the best plan for sure! He smiled to himself, his heartbeat speeding up. Yes. A nice meet up in his motorhome. And what else could happen…he began to fantasise…


	4. A Jealous Ache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani is jealous.

Dani watched the Jerez race enthusiastically from the VIP area and was happy to see Marc winning the race! With a start, he also noticed his KTM colleagues did well—he suddenly realised he hadn’t been looking at them. But they only came in the top 10, they didn’t win like Marc. 

The day after the race, the test began, and he spend hours going round and round with his KTM fellow tester Mika Kallio, testing parts and corners and tyres and all sorts.

When he came in to finish his test run on the first day, he was happy to see the Honda riders were still there, so he sauntered along the pit lane past the Repsol garages as if he just happened to be walking past.

As he did so, he heard a loud laugh and looked around with excitement, but saw Marc sharing a joke with Jorge Lorenzo. They looked so happy together, smiling and being silly, that Dani felt a pang of jealousy stabbing his chest.

He half wished that it was back in the past when it was he Marc shared jokes with, and Jorge was still with his Ducati team, even though he wasn’t happy there. Dani didn’t care how Jorge felt, he just wanted Marc back.

Dani walked back and forth a couple of times at the garage entrance, but didn't want to look too obvious so walked back to his KTM crew, thinking he wouldn’t get to see Marc this time. He began working out when the next test would be…a few more weeks before he would get the chance again. He chewed his lip in annoyance.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mika and Pol, saying excitedly, “come on Dani, we’re going to have a meal now with everyone.”

They dragged him off to the KTM hospitality area where they all had a lovely time drinking and eating and having a good laugh. But Dani couldn't help thinking about Marc and how happy he seemed to be with Jorge. The jealous ache in his chest was just getting more painful.


	5. An Itch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc has an itch or two...

The next day, Dani was surprised to see Marc peering into the KTM garage. He wasn't wearing the orange Repsol outfit of course, just a plain black hoodie and jeans so he wouldn’t attract attention.

Dani hurried out to see him. “I thought you weren't allowed to come in here?”

“They don’t know I’m here. Can I hide somewhere? I wanted to see you.” He gave his usual broad smile, like a satisfied cat.

“Okay.” Dani led him towards the back of the garages, an area which was divided by partitions into offices, rest rooms, debriefing rooms etc. Dani took Marc into one of the offices.

“I saw you looking into my garage yesterday, why didn’t you come in?” said Marc, still grinning as he gazed at his friend.

“Did you? You seemed to be having so much fun with Jorge, I didn’t want to disturb you.” He couldn’t help a note of jealousy and bitterness creeping into his voice.

“Him? He was just moaning about something, I was laughing at him.” Marc wriggled his shoulders and frowned. He took off his hoodie and tied it round his waist, revealing a grey t-shirt underneath.

“Oh, it didn’t look like it to me. But anyway…what’s it like working with him instead of me?”

“It’s alright I guess. Anyway, what about you and your new job? Do you like it? What’s your new bike like? What are the people like?” Despite Marc firing questions, he was still jiggling about and trying to scratch his back by curving his hand over his shoulder.

“Oh yes I like it. You know…they listen to me and riding a new bike is always great fun. Everyone is very nice, they appreciate my input…” As Dani talked, he was distracted by Marc’s wriggling. He normally moved around a lot but this was different, he looked uncomfortable. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know, I think this t-shirt—there’s something wrong with it. My back is so itchy.”

“Maybe it’s the material. Do you want me to scratch it for you?” Dani couldn’t help giggling at the silly situation.

“Do you mind?”

“No, no of course not.” He put his hand on Marc’s t-shirt covered back and felt a rush of happy memories at all the silly activities they used to do—the dancing, the tractor racing, dressing up as teachers…so much fun stuff. He scratched where he thought the itch was and Marc groaned.

“Ohh yesss, just there…”

Dani’s giggles got louder. “So, what’s it like at Repsol without me?” He knew he’d just asked that question but he hadn’t got a detailed answer. Not detailed enough for him anyway. He needed to know how Marc was getting on without him. He didn’t want Jorge just taking up where he’d left off and being Marc’s favourite.

“Awful—ohh, a bit higher up. It was so much more fun when you were there—oh yes, just there!”

“Why didn’t you just change this top if it’s so itchy?”

“There wasn’t time, I thought of coming to see you and just came along at once.” He was still wriggling and frowning, it wasn’t like him.

Dani smiled though. It was typical Marc. He would do something on the spur of the moment rather than think about it for ages like Dani himself did. He did miss the impetuous of his friend. No one at KTM had sudden impulses like he did. Pol was a bit over-excitable but it wasn’t the same way as Marc. He kept scratching Marc’s back, he couldn’t stop.

“Oh this isn’t helping! Could you, y’know—”

“Could I what?” The rhythmic scratching up and down was starting to affect Dani in all sorts of unexpected ways.

“Could you scratch under the t-shirt? It’s so itchy.” He looked cutely at his former team mate.

“Er—well—okay.” Dani remembered that when they were team mates, they got changed in front of each other and used to constantly be dressing and undressing at all the funny races and activities, so it wasn’t like they’d never seen each other without clothes. 

Marc turned to brace himself against the wall so Dani carefully lifted the t-shirt and put his hands on Marc’s muscly back, gently scratching the skin with his nails, a little concerned about hurting him.

Marc groaned louder than before and Dani felt a wave of amused lust wash over him, mixed with concern that people in the garage would hear and come rushing in. But it was no use trying to keep Marc quiet…ever! So he continued to scratch the itchy back while Marc said things like: 

“Harder, do it harder!” 

“A bit higher!” 

“Ohhh just there!” 

And Dani did his best to satisfy him.

They were both getting out of breath and giggling at the same time, totally engrossed in stopping the itch, when a discreet cough made them jump. 

They turned to see Pol and Miguel in the doorway. Pol was suppressing laughter and Miguel’s eyebrows were up in his hair.

“Er…is everything alright, guys?” asked Pol.

“Oh yes,” said Dani, jumping back from Marc and pulling down the t-shirt. Marc turned round too.

“Yes we’re fine,” said the younger rider.

“We were just—er—um—” Dani couldn’t think clearly enough to explain.

Pol raised an eyebrow and Miguel smirked.

“We’re going for a walk, see you later,” said Dani, grabbing Marc’s arm and dragging him out of the office and through the garage. He didn’t know where they were going but somewhere, anywhere out of the pitlane and paddock. He saw the wooded area in the centre of the circuit and hurried Marc over to there.

“It’s just not as good at Repsol without you there,” blurted Marc breathlessly. “I miss you every day and I wouldn’t ask anyone else to scratch my itches.”

“You—er—have m-more itches?” Dani suddenly found it very hard to talk.

“I have lots of itches.” Marc stopped abruptly as they reached the trees and turned to face his former team mate. They stepped towards each other at the same time and fell into a tight hug, Dani instinctively still trying to scratch Marc’s itchy back.

“Not that sort of itch,” whispered Marc into his hair. 

Dani looked up at him wonderingly. “I’ve missed you,” he sighed.

Then their lips met in a gentle kiss, which soon became far more passionate with tongues entwining and teeth clashing.

When they at last had to stop for breath, they rested in each other’s arms, still standing only just in the shade of the wood.

“Do you have to go back to Repsol now?” asked Dani sadly.

“Yes. Wish I didn’t…” Marc sounded just as sad.

“We can keep in touch though, as we already text anyway?”

“Yes!” The younger rider almost shouted the word, then looked round guiltily, making Dani smile.

“I’ll go one way, you go the other to avoid suspicion.” Dani slowly disengaged from him and walked slowly towards his team garage, suddenly overwhelmed with sorrow that he wasn’t in the same team as Marc anymore. How could they see each other now they were in different teams? KTM and Repsol wouldn’t approve, they’d be scared of them passing secrets to each other. But Dani didn’t want to lose Marc.


	6. An Accusation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Puig gets suspicious

Marc stared anxiously at his phone. Ever since he and Dani kissed in the wood at Jerez, they had exchanged a few texts but nothing particularly meaningful. Just things like ‘hi’ ‘how are you?’ and chatting like they normally did, but it had been a day since Marc received the last text from Dani.

He was wondering what had happened and what had gone wrong between them as he sat there in a meeting with the Repsol team, including Alberto Puig and Jorge Lorenzo. It was the day after the Mugello race and they were in a meeting room there as the team had stayed on for this purpose.

Was he overreacting to not getting a text from Dani for a day? Maybe he was busy with KTM. Or his family and friends. Or maybe he had another boyfriend. Everyone adored Dani, he probably had a long line of people queueing to go out with him.

Marc told himself not to be so silly. Dani wasn’t the sort of guy to kiss him then have other lovers behind his back.

Puig was ranting on and on about something, and Marc just let it all wash over him. It was mainly about how Honda's performance had been declining sharply and how he was suspicious about something. And Marc knew neither of those things were his fault, so he switched off to the lecture.

He stared at his phone, anxiously twisting it this way and that, as if it would make a message pop up. 

Suddenly there was a slap on the desk in front of him and he almost jumped out of his skin. He looked up right into the angry face of the Repsol manager.

“Marc!” shouted Puig, who had slapped the desk with his fist. “Will you listen? It's very important!”

He suppressed a laugh as it felt like he was back at school being told off by the teacher. Especially as he could hear Jorge Lorenzo sniggering to his left.

“Oh! Yes. Performance. We must improve our performance,” he blurted.

“Yes well that was not all I was saying,” said Puig, subsiding a little. “I was wondering why Repsol's performance is going down and KTM’s performance is going up.”

“Oh.” Marc shrugged. Why should he care? He shrugged though and asked politely, “why do you think that is?”

“I think we have a mole in our company.” The manager glared round dramatically at the team members. His fierce gaze made everyone look away and shuffle their papers, peer at their screens or study their fingernails.

Chatter rose in the room and after a few moments, Puig clapped his hands for silence.

“I’ve been suspecting this for a while,” he announced. “there are certain—similarities—to parts the KTM bike is using, to the ones we’re using.”

Marc managed not to roll his eyes. Anyone who’d been in MotoGP for longer than 18 months would know that teams always copied each other’s parts and kept evolving, it never stopped. Everyone was copying Ducati’s mysterious rear tyre cooler and there was the constant morphing of different shaped wings.

He glanced at his team mate, still feeling the jolt of seeing Jorge Lorenzo wearing the other orange suit, rather than the handsome Dani.

Jorge rolled his eyes at him, he looked as bored as Marc felt.

“Boys!” snapped the manager, seeing their glances. “I’ve told you before—pay attention!”

“I’m not exactly a boy,” said Jorge coldly. “I’m thirty two years old.”

Puig dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “My point is, somebody is leaking our secrets to KTM. And I think I know who!”

Everyone stopped talking and stared open mouthed at him. But he kept them waiting for a good few minutes, enjoying his time in the spotlight.

“Who is it?” asked Jorge at last, not caring about politeness as usual.

“I shall not say. I don’t want to alert the culprit, as no doubt their friends will gossip and allow them to cover their tracks. But I’m watching them.” He glared at everyone, rotating as he did so, as if he were on a microwave turntable. Then he swished out in a second, slamming the meeting room door behind him.

The Repsol team members stared at each other in shock, then a few of them giggled nervously.

“That man is unbelievable,” began Jorge. “What a—”

“Yes,” interrupted Santi. “But we have to humour him.”

Those were harsh words from the normally agreeable crew chief and Marc stared at him. Then his phone beeped and he too ran out of the room like an arrow, away from the absurd meeting.

To his delight, the text was indeed from Dani.

_So sorry I didn’t text yesterday. My mum fell over and twisted her ankle, we had to take her to hospital._

Marc’s fingers flew as he replied. _Oh no! don’t apologise. Is she ok?_

There followed a long interlude of frantic texting between the two of them. Marc walked out into the sunshine. The fans were all gone now as it was Monday so he was free to wander around as he liked.

He sat down on a wall after Dani sent a video of himself exercising, with the caption _remember when we used to do this together?_

Marc’s mind went into overdrive, imagining what _this_ could be. He was transfixed by the video,, so much so that he didn’t notice anyone approaching til a shadow loomed over him.

“Who are you texting?” barked a familiar voice. It was Puig again.

“Um—er—none of your business!” Marc quavered, trying to switch off the phone but his hands were so shaky due to seeing the hot video of Dani, he dropped the thing instead.

“Aha!” shouted Puig, swooping on it like an eagle. “What’s this?” He peered at the screen, his eyebrows going up into his hair.

Marc leapt forward. “Give it to me!” he shouted. “It’s my private property!” But Puig wouldn’t let it go now.

“This is Dani Pedrosa, our ex rider?” the manager said with a sneer. “He’s sending you exercise videos?”

Marc reddened, partly with anger and partly with embarrassment. Puig was the very last person he wanted to know about himself and Dani.

“Disgusting!” shouted the manager. “I knew it! You’re the one passing secrets to KTM!”


	7. A Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani is scared for Marc.

Two weeks later, Dani was lying on a floating mattress in the swimming pool of his villa thinking, _Oh yes, this is the life—drinking a cocktail with a little umbrella in it, with a sun hat over my head, wearing swimming trunks and just tanning in the sun._

He was remembering the presentation of his award at Jerez—that had been so flattering and emotional, he’d felt very tearful afterwards. 

But the kiss with Marc the day after the race had been so much better, even though they hadn’t seen each other since: although they’d texted, it was not the same as physically being together. It was torture. They’d spent so many years in the same team, why hadn’t they realised how they felt about each other in all that time? Now it wasn’t possible to see Marc every day when he wanted to. He must be so busy—Dani obviously knew what life was like as a famous racing driver, always in demand, always training or racing or studying or doing activities with fans and colleagues.

But Dani was also hoping everything was alright, because he'd seen Jaume Masia and Marc all over each other in the press conference at Jerez, and couldn't help a small twinge of jealousy. Texts were texts but physical closeness was quite another thing. Masia was young, handsome and blond so maybe Marc just wanted someone different to an old, short, dark retired rider.

_Stop being silly. Marc wouldn’t have kissed me and kept in touch if he wanted someone else._ Just as he was thinking this, his phone beeped and started ringing. It was Marc! He was so happy—maybe he’d somehow conjured up Marc from thinking about him.

He answered the phone and Marc's voice was very faint and crackly—it must be a bad line.

“Dani!” he said loudly. “I’ve gotta tell you something. I've got some news it’s not very good.”

“Oh, darling what is it?” replied Dani with concern. He was so worried that he didn’t care if he’d gone too far by calling Marc _darling._

Then Marc’s voice went into gibberish, “ack—eek—ook—um—ar—” and didn’t make sense.

Dani tried to understand but couldn’t. “What?” he asked.

“I have to call you back when it's better reception but it's not good news, darling I'm afraid.” Then the line went dead.

Dani’s mind went into overdrive. What could it be? Was Marc going to tell him about Masia? Or was it something about Marc’s health? Or about the team? Or had Jorge done something? Was it about a race? His mind went into all these different scenarios and probabilities and so his wonderful relaxing day floating in the pool was spoiled.

***

A few anxious hours later, Dani received Marc’s call again.

“So sorry about that, I was trying to hide from the team and couldn’t find a good place to call.”

“What? Hide from the team?” Dani began to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

“It’s Puig. He thinks—he thinks—” Marc’s voice trembled.

“What? He thinks what?” The mention of Puig got all Dani’s senses on high alert.

“He thinks I’m passing technical secrets onto you from Repsol.”

Dani paused, screwing up his face. What the hell was Puig playing at? He saw conspiracies in every corner. “He…what?” he managed to say finally.

“He says Repsol is declining and KTM is improving so that must be the answer. He knows about us so that is the only logical conclusion for him.”

Dani tried to make his thoughts into a comprehensible sentence. He was so angry he could feel a rush of warmth filling his body and clenched his fists.

“That useless piece of shit!” he barked. “He’s trying to ruin me and he’s dragging you down too. There are millions of reasons Repsol is going down the drain.”

Marc was shocked by this outburst but equally angry. “And he says I can’t contact you in any way as if I do he’ll know I’m the mole in the company. It’s bloody stupid!” He hardly knew whether to laugh or cry.

“Should you be phoning me? What if you get in trouble?” Dani couldn’t bear the thought that Marc would get punished because of him.

“Jorge and Cal are covering for me with Puig. You know how Cal talks, he goes on and on and Jorge is just filling in the gaps. It would be funny if it wasn’t so stupid. ”

“Thank god for them. So can we even meet again? He can’t stop us meeting, can he?” Dani’s stomach felt like it was falling away at the thought of not seeing Marc as soon as possible.

“Well I was thinking…maybe we could meet up in the summer holidays? That’s not until July but it would be something. If you want to?”

Dani tried not to shout. “Of course I want to! I miss you, we used to be together all the time now we hardly ever see each other. You can come here to Geneva if you like? And escape Spain.” His heart was pounding—what if he’d been too keen, too pushy?

But he was reassured when Marc replied almost before he’d finished talking. “Yes! Yes I’d love to!! Let’s arrange it.”

There was a sudden burst of shouting the other end of the line then, and it went dead.

“Marc! Marc! Come back! ” shouted Dani desperately into the phone, his heart pounding. What had happened? He frantically thought what he could do and scrolled down the list of names to Pol Espargaro.

“Hey Dani!” said the bubbly voice of the younger Espargaro brother. “How are you doing? I haven’t spoken to you for—”

“Help me, Pol, please. Are you at a track now? Can you find Marc and see if he’s okay? Something happened, his call got cut off!”

“Slow down Dani, what? What’s happened?”

“Please Pol, just do it, I’ll tell you later. Where are you?”

It sounded like he was moving as his voice became disjointed as he talked. “I’m just walking to the Repsol garage, they won’t let me in you know.”

A loud voice came through the phone. “What do you want? Get out of here!”

Dani recognised the abrupt tone of Alberto Puig and clenched his fist.

“I’m just looking for Marc, he left his coat in the restaurant,” continued Pol calmly.

_What quick thinking,_ thought Dani admiringly.

“He can get it later. Be off with you! Stop spying!”

After a few more attempts by Pol to find out where Marc was, he had to give up. “I’m sorry Dani,” he said sadly as he walked away. “I’ll keep looking. I’ll get Aleix onto it too.”

Dani was so worried. Was Marc being kept prisoner inside the Repsol facilities? Had his phone been taken away? He hoped Pol could find out the truth.


	8. A Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get REALLY complicated for our two lovers...

Dani decided to call Alex because whenever he phoned Marc, the call just didn't connect or it just rang endlessly with no answer.

When he phoned, before he could speak, the younger rider said, “Oh Dani, I thought you might call.”

“What's happening with Marc?” asked Dani anxiously, wringing his hands with worry.

“Puig has taken away his phone, he's only allowed to contact other Honda riders or family. Puig just grabbed his phone and kept it somewhere!”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, he said Marc should never speak to you again! He’s such a prick!”

“He can't take his phone! He's an adult, he can contact who he wants!” Dani clenched his fists, thinking of how isolated Marc must be feeling.

“I’ve also heard that Puig’s been threatening him, saying that Jorge will be the number one rider and they're going to concentrate on him and leave Marc just to work by himself. I think Puig has just gone power crazy. Papa is so angry, I thought he’d have a heart attack!”

“Puig’s a monster. Can I keep in touch with you? Can you pass messages to Marc? If that's okay.”

“Of course. I just don't know what to do, it sounds like Puig is taking over the whole of Repsol and controlling everyone.”

After their call, Dani wondered what the hell he was going to do now. _It’s like Marc is being held hostage. I can’t use WhatsApp, can I somehow contact him on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram? I’d need a device that isn’t a phone and so would he, and how easy would that be to find or use?_

***

It seemed like years before the next test but at last he was travelling to the Catalunya track to meet KTM, deep in thought again. _Marc looked alive and well at all the other grands prix on television, but I wish I could jump into the screen and hug him. He’s like a movie star from the golden age of Hollywood, gorgeous but unobtainable._

At the track, Pol grabbed his arm and led him to a secluded area of the garage.

“What’s happening, how’s it going?” he gabbled, obviously worried.

Dani told him the bare minimum and Pol’s mouth dropped open. “I’m going mad trying to contact Marc but it’s impossible, how can this be happening?” Dani finished.

“Well…okay…my brother is friends with Jorge, I could ask him to—”

“No! Jorge would make Puig suspicious, he would just march in there and ask direct questions. We need to be more subtle. We don’t want to give away we’re trying to free Marc, it would make things worse for him and I can’t do that!”

Then Dani turned and noticed Johann, Miguel and Hafizh standing behind him listening, plus some crew members. He and Pol hadn’t realised the quiet corner they had chosen led onto an office and everyone had gathered when they heard the pair talking. Dani was so popular at KTM, everyone else was drawn to him and he always had people following him around.

“What’s all this about?” asked Johann bluntly. “You said you weren’t allowed to talk to Marc?”

“Yes, that’s what it is,” said Dani, blushing.

“Well he’s in another team, why do you want to talk to him? I know you’re friends, but why is it so urgent?”

They all stared at the older rider, waiting. Then Mika arrived as well, to add insult to injury and stood smiling at him.

“Well if you must know, Marc and I are in a relationship, that’s why I want to talk to him.” He stared defiantly at the circle of riders and crew.

Everyone gasped.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” said Pol quickly and the others nodded.

But Johann piped up, “the KTM bosses won’t like it. They’ll be worried about you passing secrets to him. You know…pillow talk.” He was concerned that his hard won knowledge of his new bike would be passed onto Repsol and give them an advantage.

“Dani’s far too professional to do that,” said Pol. “You’re being unfair.”

“No I’m not,” said Johann, and Mika and some crew members nodded. “It’s best not to be too friendly with riders from other teams because of that.”

Hafizh and Miguel melted away into the background, not wanting to get involved, so did the crew and eventually it was just Johann, Mika and Pol facing each other.

“Puig is keeping Marc’s phone and not letting him contact me,” said Dani angrily, shocked that his own team members were against him. “It's not normal or right and I must stop him.”

“That’s a bit extreme,” said Mika. “I mean, Puig keeping Marc’s phone, not you.” He was sympathetic to Dani’s situation but also thinking that if Dani was distracted, he might not be such a good tester. Then Mika himself could step forward as the number one test rider and his years of hard work would be noticed.

Johann nodded. “Surely Marc can stop this happening if he wants to,” he said unsympathetically. “He’s not a baby. Maybe he doesn’t want to.” He thought Dani should be busy helping him and the other KTM riders, not chasing after a Repsol rider like this.

“I’m sure he’s trying!” snapped Dani, and he stepped towards Johann but Pol restrained him.

“Come along,” said the younger Espargaro. “Let’s cool down somewhere else.”

Dani was burning with shock and anger. _How can people I’ve helped turn on me like this? Johann is so cold and Mika seems to agree._ He felt numb.

***

At Repsol, Marc was also fuming. He felt like a child in detention, not allowed to use his phone for anything other than emergencies. He sat in his swivel chair, turning back and forth angrily, waiting for the test session to start. He was in such a bad mood and he refused speak to Puig at all, apart from general polite comments and things he needed to say to him about racing and technical stuff.

Even the self-absorbed Jorge noticed that Marc was in a bad mood, so later that day after testing, he cornered Marc in the garage.

“What's the matter with you?” He said.

“You know what’s the matter with me,” said Marc sarcastically. “I told you the other day.”

Jorge looked blank, as he’d forgotten the time he and Cal were distracting Puig when Marc was phoning Dani. He had his own problems and struggles with his bike and the team.

So Marc jogged his memory. “Puig has stopped me contacting Dani, he's even taken my phone and only lets me contact my family. Remember how you helped me the other day when I was speaking to Dani? Can you help me now?” He gazed hopefully at his teammate.

But Jorge paused. He’d been feeling a bit jealous of Dani and Marc. His teammate should be helping him and focusing on him in Honda, not distracted by his ex-teammate in another team. And on the other side of course, he didn't want Dani in a relationship with anyone else apart from him, as he’d always liked his former rival. At first he’d enjoyed distracting Puig because he found the manager annoying and far too bossy and interfering anyway, but it always took a while for things to filter through Jorge’s brain. And now he’d decided he didn’t want his teammate and the rider he’d always secretly fancied, in a relationship.

He said to Marc, “you shouldn’t be speaking to KTM riders. Puig has a point about why Repsol is struggling and KTM rising up—it could be that you’re passing information on without realising.”

Marc glared at him and snapped, “you’re as bad as him! Of course I’m not! I’m not totally stupid and unprofessional!”

“I’m just saying, it’s probably not a good idea to have a relationship with someone in another team…”

“Just saying! Do you know what Puig’s been saying to me? He said he’s going to make you the number one rider and leave me to get on with my own setup and bike with no help. Santi is furious too, it’s not just me!”

Jorge glared at him. “I didn’t think we had number one and number two riders at Repsol, I’m a champion just as much as you and we both deserve equal treatment. If anything, I should be the number one rider as I’m older than you by six years!”

Marc glared back. “You’ve changed your tune, but I don’t need you, I can sort my own life out.” He stormed off. _If only Dani was still my teammate, he would make me feel calm and happy. Now I’ve got a self-centred teammate and I have to work entirely alone. The happy team I used to have is ruined._

***

Cal heard the crew whispering that Marc and Jorge had been arguing and his ears pricked up, thinking maybe he could finally get his long desired second rider place at Repsol, and oust Jorge. He’d always been so jealous of Dani but when finally he’d left, to his annoyance, Jorge stepped in and yet again, he had been overlooked. 

But if Jorge and Marc were arguing, it was Cal’s chance to step in. He could be the greatest teammate the young champion ever had and make a great impression, securing his name as one of the all-time greats in MotoGP. If Cal couldn’t win lots of titles—and even he admitted he couldn’t now at his age—he could play a part in helping Marc to win more titles. Dani would be forgotten, so would Jorge, and Cal would be Marc’s favourite teammate forever.

He didn’t care if Marc was screwing Dani upside down, sideways and underwater, he’d been happy at first to help Marc by distracting Puig, who wasn’t Cal’s favourite person. But maybe he’d got it all wrong. Maybe he should be trying to get into Puig’s good books instead? Then the manager would promote him. So he went to find Marc, who was sitting outside in the sun eating a cheese sandwich, frowning.

“How are you, champ?” Cal sat down next to him.

“So you heard about my argument with Jorge?” It was impossible to fool Marc.

Cal chose his words carefully. “I can see why he’s jealous.”

That did confuse the younger rider. “Jealous?”

“He’s always fancied Dani, that’s why. He’s jealous of you and him.”

Marc’s expression darkened. “Oh really…”

“That’s why he won’t help you in this situation. He only thinks of himself.”

“Does he…”

“You know what he’s like by now. Single minded to say that least.”

Marc stared coldly at his fellow Honda rider.

“Anyway, I brought you this.” He handed Marc a small bar of chocolate. “We need treats sometimes.”

“Oh! Thanks.” Marc took it—his favourite brand.

“Enjoy. I’ll leave you to have a break. Sorry I interrupted.” Cal sauntered off, grinning to himself.

Marc frowned as he finished his sandwich. 

_So I can’t trust Jorge. I’ve always known there was kind of connection him and Dani, there always has been. I have to keep Jorge away from Dani at all costs, so I couldn’t rely on him. Can I rely on Cal? Probably not. I know he is stirring but there’s so much truth in what he says, I can’t risk it. If I want to contact Dani, I’ll have to be cautious. Alex told me about his chat with Dani but I don’t want to send messages to my boyfriend through my little brother!_

He sat for a while in the sun, eating and thinking, glad to be alone.


	9. A Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All seems lost...but surprising people gallop to the rescue!

Still at the Catalunya test, Dani was sitting in his trailer, feeling sad and defeated, tears forming in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks. He had been to the KTM management meeting, and they’d told him in no uncertain terms that they’d heard he was in a relationship with a Honda rider, and he was not to contact him again. They were paranoid about any technical, psychological or tactical secrets getting out and helping the Repsol Honda team. Or any team.

Dani slumped on the sofa. _How easy life was when I was still at Repsol with Marc. I could have just told him how I felt because we were in the same team. And he would have done the same thing. How stupid am I? I didn’t take the chance when I had it, but waited until I'm in a different team. Now I probably won’t see him for years except in passing, then he’ll have found someone else and moved on._

There was a knock on the door and Dani sighed. What was it now? Would he ever get some peace and quiet? He trudged over to the door and opened it a crack, planning to tell the visitor to go away.

However, Pol Espargaro was standing there grinning. He said, “oh good, you look very nice! Because I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Dani frowned—he was only wearing his KTM outfit, nothing special. “I don’t like surprises, Pol, you know that. Is it a party? Because I’m not in the mood today, sorry.”

“Don't worry, it's not a party, but it is a surprise.” He stepped in and shut the door, then gave Dani’s hair a quick tidy with his fingers.

“What are you doing?” Dani stepped back, pushing the younger rider’s hands away.

“Oh you’ll see,” said Pol annoyingly. He straightened Dani’s KTM shirt and then grabbed his sleeve. “Come with me to my motorhome.”

Dani sighed again. He really didn't want a surprise. If it wasn’t a party, he thought it must be his brother and his parents who had come to cheer him up. Pol must have contacted them. He followed Pol who was almost skipping with excitement as they went to his trailer. When they got there, the blond Catalan flung the door open and pushed Dani inside.

Marc stood there, looking anxious. But his face lit up when he saw his ex-teammate, and he beamed. Dani hadn’t seen that gorgeous smile for so long and his heart fluttered.

“Have you been crying?” Marc leapt towards him and ran his finger down the older rider's cheek.

“No, no I’m fine now.” He stared as if he wanted to memorise Marc's face. 

Then Marc hugged him tightly, stroking his back, his hair, his neck. “I missed you so much,” he whispered, his voice breaking with emotion.

“Me too,” squeaked Dani, his voice going out of control as he hugged Marc back.

Pol coughed. “Miguel and I made a meal for you, it’s in the fridge. You just have to cook it. Hafizh set up the table for you.”

Dani looked over Marc’s shoulder to the kitchen and saw a table set with cutlery and napkins, and some red heart shaped candles waiting to be lit. He gasped.

“But h-how did you get away f-from Repsol?” he stuttered, gazing at his lover.

“Don’t worry about that,” interrupted Pol. “That is all under control.”

“That’s amazing.”

“And you can use the spare bedroom if you want,” continued Pol with a wink. “As long as you take off the sheets afterwards.” He considered asking if they had condoms and lube but decided it was none of his business. The couple barely noticed him anyway, they were so busy hugging and kissing, so he tiptoed out, shutting the door quietly.

“Let’s sit down,” said Marc, leading Dani to the sofa. But instead of sitting, they fell into a heap, limbs tangled together. Marc wriggled so he was lying on his back and Dani fitted perfectly on top of him.

They kissed deeply, weeks of frustration pouring out as their tongues tangled and teeth clashed. Marc ran his hands through Dani’s hair and pressed upwards as his lover pressed down. They were grinding against each other, both hard and desperate.

“Do you want to—” Dani indicated with his head to where he thought Pol’s spare room was, and Marc sat up in an instant, wrapping himself around his lover even more. He made a noise of lust and they both giggled.

He stood up with Dani clinging to him and stumbled towards the bedroom.

***

Meanwhile at the KTM garage, a scene was starting.

“You got in my way on track just now,” barked Pol, glaring at Miguel. The crew members present looked up from their tasks, worried.

“No I didn’t,” shouted the Portuguese rider, bristling. He advanced on Pol threateningly.

“I am the senior rider in this team, you should give way to me!” Pol clenched his fists.

“No I shouldn’t!”

“Hey you two!” interrupted Hafizh. “You should be helping me, not arguing. I need the most help!”

The trio glared at each other, then all stepped forward, pushing and shoving each other. The crew stared, half interested, half concerned. The three riders began throwing punches at each other, all calculated to miss of course, and Miguel’s shirt came undone, showing off his tanned, muscly chest.

“Calm down lads!” shouted Pol’s crew chief, who was the only one in on the secret plan. “You all have different statuses in the team, get used to it!”

The other crew members flinched at his lack of tact, and continued staring at the three riders, who were now rolling around on the floor fighting in a heap of arms and legs. Of course they weren’t really trying to hurt each other, it was all a distraction.

***

Dani and Marc were by now in the bedroom undoing each other’s shirts, stopping every few seconds to kiss and lick and stroke and rub.

“I’ve missed you so much,” gasped Dani, thinking it wasn’t a very original thing to say. But it was true.

“Me too.” Marc slid his hands round his lover’s back, and down his trousers to squeeze his bum, making Dani push towards him. They were so unsteady they fell onto the bed anyway and writhed together, giggling and groaning with excitement and lust.

They wrapped around each other like they couldn’t get close enough, wriggled their trousers off until they were completely naked, their erections straining towards each other desperately.

Marc ran his hand down Dani’s side to his hip and hesitated teasingly for a second, then grabbed the hard cock, making his lover almost shout and jerk towards him.

Dani grinned and did the same to Marc, who made such a feral noise that they both giggled. 

“I’m an animal,” he gasped, then gazed deeply into his lover’s eyes and stroked him slowly up and down, loving to see him lose focus and get more and more turned on. Feeling Dani’s hand jerking him made him more excited and they moved faster and faster, pressing urgently against each other. Their naked, hot and sweaty skin stuck together and the heat between them was like a furnace.

Kissing sloppily, tongues twining and teeth catching, drooling in their enthusiasm, they were frantic to release all the pent up passion from the last few weeks and months, and it all came out in a big sticky gush as they pressed against each other, panting and gasping.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, full of love and happiness. Unable to speak, Dani stroked Marc’s face with his cleaner hand, and the younger rider cuddled up to him tightly in the rumpled, damp bed.

After a little while, they separated and lay side by side. 

“I thought I’d never see you again,” sighed Marc. “I thought I’d go mad, it was like being kept prisoner.” He grasped his lover’s hand tightly, too hot to cuddle him again.

“Me too. I thought you’d find some other lover and move on from me.” Dani felt a slight twinge of nerves saying this but he was too relaxed not to speak.

“Never!” exclaimed Marc, looking over at him. “I’ll never love anyone but you.” He could have bitten his tongue at using the L word but Dani just smiled even more lovingly at him.

Both their stomachs rumbled then and they laughed.

“We need food,” said Dani. “Think it’s the sort of meal we can eat in bed?”

***

At Repsol Honda, Stefan Bradl cornered Jorge Lorenzo.

“Erm…can you help me? I’m having trouble with my bike,” he said, trying to look admiring.

“What trouble?”

“It is the cornering. I’m struggling with it. As a five-time champion I was hoping you could help me.”

Jorge visibly swelled with pride. “Of course,” he said proudly. “What do you want me to do?”

“I thought I could follow you on the track for a while to get some tips.”

The Majorcan strode out to his bike and Stefan thought his head looked like it was expanding as he walked. They rode out onto the track but not before Stefan had given Taka Nakagami the secret signal.

In turn, the Japanese rider found his team mate outside in the pitlane.

“Can you help me Cal?” he asked.

“What with?” Cal was very big brotherly to his younger teammate.

“I can’t start my bike. No one can.”

“What?” The Englishman hastened towards the other Honda, where a group of worried crew members were fussing around it. Little did any of them know that Taka and Stefan had removed a vital part which prevented it from starting.

From a few feet away, Taka watched everyone panicking and smiled at the thought that he and Stefan’s plan to distract the team from Dani’s absence, was working well…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a light hearted chapter to distract us from the sinkhole Britain seems to be falling into...


	10. A Bowl of Ice-cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani and Marc are alone in Pol's trailer with food, whatever will happen...

Marc and Dani made their way to the kitchen, both naked since they had locked the door anyway and both not able to keep their hands off the other. Fingers stroking skin and both giggling resulted in both of them almost losing their balance, but Marc was just able to grab Dani's arm. 

Marc fell back against the wall with Dani pressed against him, then the older rider leaned in to kiss him deeply before pulling back. Marc chased after his lips and Dani laughed. 

He took Marc's hand. "Come on, let's see what they made us." 

Opening the fridge they saw a large pan with a note with, _Dani and Marc_ written on it. The KTM rider reached out to take off the lid. 

"Spaghetti," Marc frowned. "We can't eat spaghetti in bed." 

"Not with sauce...and without it, it won’t taste very good." 

"What's this?" Marc took another bowl with their names on it. “Ice cream!" 

"We can have that in bed if we're careful." Dani said. 

"Yep, come on." Marc turned to the table to grab a spoon while Dani quickly took something else from the table before he followed him back to the bedroom.

***

They sat cross legged on the bed with the huge carton of ice cream placed between them, then Dani held up the jar of honey. Marc smiled, watching how Dani covered the top layer of ice cream with it and both started to eat, Marc held the spoon and took a bite before feeding Dani. 

They talked generally about Marc's expectations of the rest of the season and also about Dani's testing work for KTM. Marc could see his lover was enjoying it, talking about his new job gave him this twinkle in his eyes he hadn’t shown for a while, and he talked so passionately about it. 

"It's good to see you this happy again about racing, or testing in this case. I'm glad they picked you up." 

"Me too, it's such a contrast to my last year at Honda, I have the feeling I matter again, that what I say matters, that I matter." 

"You've always mattered to Honda!"

"I know, but it's different." 

"KTM has been very complimentary about the changes you've made." 

"I know." Dani smiled, spooning a new layer of honey over the ice-cream while Marc scooped some up, but he nudged the side of the carton by accident so the honey landed on Marc's thighs. "Shit, sorry!" 

"It's ok." Marc went to scoop the honey up but Dani suddenly stopped him. 

"Wait!" he almost yelled, making Marc freeze. 

Smirking, Dani took the carton of ice cream and put it to one side, leaned forward and put his hands next to Marc's hips, licking and sucking his thighs to get the honey off. 

"Damn it, Dani..." Marc caught his breath. 

Dani took his time to suck the honey off that beautiful skin and when he finished, he looked up through his eyelashes to see Marc was hard,. "Lie back." 

Marc did what he said and leant back on his elbows, watching how Dani took his cock and lay it against his stomach, took the honey and poured a stripe upwards over the vein on the underside. Marc felt it twitch and shivered. Dropping the jar on the bed, Dani leant down, licked the honey off and curled his tongue around the tip, humming around him. 

"Fuck...." Marc breathed, his head falling back.

Dani smiled and let the cock plop out of his mouth, making Marc whine with the loss, but then something really cold on his chest made him jump. Looking down he saw that Dani had taken a scoop of ice-cream and was drizzling it over his muscles, smiling while looking up at the Repsol rider. Abandoning the spoon, he hovered over Marc while following the trail of melted ice-cream on his chest, his tongue touched a nipple and lingered over it before repeating with the other. 

Marc wanted to stroke Dani's face but the older rider moved lower again, reaching out for the honey and trickling it all over the crown of Marc's cock. Wrapping his lips around the tip, he looked up at his lover, seeing lust filled eyes gazing back, while he licked over the tip and through the slit to suck the honey off, humming with the mixture of sweet and sour.

The Repsol rider arched his hips up but Dani pinned them to the mattress and hollowed his cheeks, feeling his cock twitch, then with only a little warning, Marc came down his throat and he swallowed everything he had to give. The younger man groaned and closed his eyes, smiling, while Dani kissed his way up his trembling body.

But before Dani knew it, he was flipped over so he was underneath now and Marc reached for the honey. 

"My turn," he smirked. He squeezed the tube but much too hard and honey went everywhere, coating Dani's chest, making them both gasp. "Fuck, a bit too much." 

"Too much?" Dani asked with a smile.

Frowning, Marc swirled his fingers through the pool of honey on Dani's chest, and some flowed off and onto the sheets. He jumped up and lifted his lover bridal style, making him yelp with the honey sticking their skin together. Hurrying into the bathroom, he put Dani down in the shower and switched it on, making them both gasp at the cold. Marc tried to clean his lover up. 

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to return the pleasure you gave me but I just made a mess of it." Marc pouted. 

"I know." Dani cupped his face. "How are you going to make up for that?" 

Smirking, Marc dropped to his knees and traced the half hard cock in front of him, curled his fingers around it and started tugging, his thumb flicking the tip, making its owner gasp and moan. 

Resting his head back against the tiles, Dani felt the blood rushing to his cock, making it harden instantly, filling Marc’s hand. But his cock was released, and bounced upwards—Dani looked down to see his smirking lover leaning in to wrap his lips round it, his tongue dragging through the slit. The KTM rider’s breath hitched in his throat at the sight, and he ran his fingers through Marc's wet hair, while he sucked him slowly. 

Sinking down on him completely, the tip of Dani's cock brushed the back of his throat before he moved up again just as slowly, his tongue curling around the tip and licking the slit, before dipping underneath the foreskin and repeating the process. 

"Fuck, Marc..." Dani’s head fell back against the tiles again. Marc smirked around his length, going slightly faster, and fondling Dani's balls lightly while the fingers of the other hand slipped between his arse cheeks. As they’d only just got together, Marc didn’t dare enter his lover, and overstep any boundaries, so he stuck to stroking and caressing the perineum. He looked up adoringly the beautiful quivering body, covered with drops of water and doubled his efforts, sucking harder and faster, making Dani's knees buckle the moment he came.

The change of position was so unexpected that Marc felt the tip of his finger enter Dani, but he didn’t have time to think about it, as he was swallowing every drop of cum. After Dani had shuddered to a halt, Marc released him and dropped a light kiss on the cock.

He stood up slowly and rested his forehead against Dani’s. "I'm sorry."

Dani frowned as he saw the younger rider’s eyes were cast down. "For what? Giving me the most amazing blow job I ever had?" 

"Well no, not about that, about...entering you..."

"Oh, that." Dani was smiling now. "It's ok, it made it better, I think." 

Marc smiled with relief, leaned in and sealed their lips together in a deep kiss, before washing both of them and drying them off. They knew they should get back to their own trailers before someone missed them, so after they got dressed, they shared one last, long, kiss before going their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pleased to say DanisAngel26 is now helping me with the story and keeping me on the straight and narrow..!


	11. A Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Dani and Marc's love...

In the Honda and KTM garages, there were investigations going on about what had taken place earlier. Pol, Miguel and Hafizh were ordered to the team manager’s office at KTM. 

“What is all this about?” asked Mike Leitner. “You are all fighting over your places in the teams but we try to treat you equally.” 

“I’m the senior rider, I should have the highest status!” announced Pol, the excitement of acting going to his head.

“No you shouldn’t!” shouted Miguel, waving his arms so violently that his shirt came undone again, to reveal his muscly chest. 

“We should all be equal!” barked Hafizh, shaking his fist at them. 

Johann and Mika were peering round the door and exchanged glances. “What’s wrong with them?” whispered the Finn. 

“No idea,” replied the Frenchman. “They’ve gone mad.” 

The other riders continued to argue until they were sent away to cool off by Mike and Pit. As they were walking past their teammates, Pol’s phone beeped and the trio huddled round it, giggling and saying, “he’s back.” 

This was even more mysterious to Johann and Mika, and they wandered off, bewildered. 

“What shall we do now?” asked Johann. 

“I’m going to see my wife and daughter, they’re here with me for these days,” smiled the test rider. “Can’t believe she is twelve now, how time flies…” He hurried off busily, leaving his colleague to trudge off towards his own motorhome. 

Dani had just arrived back at the KTM garage and dodged behind a trailer. He didn’t want to spoil the golden memory of his afternoon with Marc by getting into conversation with the grumpy Frenchman. If Johann had marched towards him saying, “where have you been?” that would have been different, but it seemed that no one suspected he’d just hurried back from Pol’s motorhome, as no one had accosted him. He couldn’t stop smiling, he felt like he was floating on air. 

*** 

At Honda however, it was a different story. Puig was interrogating Taka about why his bike had a part missing, and the Japanese rider put on his most innocent face, pretending he had no idea. 

“How did that piece get taken out of your bike? It is never taken out by anyone and it is very unlikely.” 

“Maybe someone forgot to put it in?” 

“Rubbish! These are professional engineers, they don’t forget! More like sabotage!” The angry manager looked round the garage abruptly, as if he expected to see a spy lurking. “Where is Marc? I bet he’s taking our secrets to KTM again.” 

Taka bit his lip. How could he change the subject? Marc’s whereabouts were the very thing he was supposed to be distracting Puig from. 

Just then, Stefan and Jorge rode by on track, so the Japanese rider waved wildly at them, which took Puig by surprise. 

“What are you doing?” he snapped, annoyed at being ignored by his subordinate. 

“Stefan and I are going to have a meal with Marc now, I was telling him I’m ready.” 

Puig glared. “You aren’t ready, you’re talking to me!” Then he lectured the young rider for another half an hour, which included a section on making sure they ate the right foods and didn’t get distracted by burgers and chips. 

While Taka was being told off, Jorge looked back to see Stefan peel off from behind him and ride into the pits, leaving the Majorcan to go round on his own for the next lap.

After that, he stormed into the garage, his face like thunder. “Why did you pull in?” he demanded of the German. “I thought you wanted to learn from me but you disappeared.” 

“Oh sorry, I’d learned all I wanted for today.” He smiled innocently, like Taka. They had been practising their innocent smiles specially for the subterfuge today. 

Jorge looked suspiciously at him, then all the Honda crew members were surprised to see Marc slip back into the garage.

“Where have you been?” demanded Puig, strutting towards him like a cockerel. 

“I was just watching my teammate riding round, we can both learn from each other.” Marc’s hair looked a bit ruffled, but that could have been the effect of the wind outside, which wasn’t strong but noticeable. 

“Well? Did you learn anything?” snapped Jorge. 

Marc reeled off a list of things he’d memorised from watching him ride previously, which covered the situation and kept the Majorcan quiet for now. 

“Come along, time to eat,” said Stefan. He took Taka and Marc’s arms, and they breezed out of the door, leaving everyone else watching in surprise, including Jorge, who became even more cross at being excluded. Where was Cal? He wanted to go and tell the Englishman all his grievances. 

When he found the surly Brit, however, he was sitting with his wife and little daughter, so Jorge said hello and chatted for a while. But he didn’t want to butt into family time, so plodded off towards his motorhome, feeling left out by everyone. 

At the meal, Marc smiled at his co-conspirators. “Thank you so, so much guys. You did an awesome job.” He beamed at the pair, who beamed back as they ate their lasagne. 

“Anytime, it was fun,” said Stefan. “I’m glad I returned to MotoGP, there’s more going on here than in Superbikes.” 

*** 

As Dani was making his way to his motorhome, still grinning at the memories of his time with Marc, Pol caught his arm. 

“Now then young man,” he said, wagging his finger. “How did my spare bed get covered in honey?” 

Dani gasped in horror—they’d forgotten to change the sheets! “I’m so sorry, Pol,” he stammered, blushing from head to toe. 

“Oh, don’t worry,” laughed the younger Espargaro. “Looks like you had a good time.” He nudged Dani, making the older rider blush even more. “But next time use your own bed, eh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed, I know zero about bikes, hence the references to the 'part' and the 'piece' missing from Taka's bike! I've no idea what it would be. 😂


	12. A Fun Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lonely riders finding ways to connect...
> 
> Or: a bit of subplot.

_Test at the Barcelona circuit_

It was the last day of the test and Jorge Lorenzo was in a bad mood. He was putting in lap after lap trying to understand his Repsol Honda bike better, with limited success. Everyone else had gone in and he was alone on the track. He was also annoyed because he knew Marc hadn’t been watching him on track. He’d been elsewhere and Jorge didn’t need many guesses as to where. He’d obviously been with Dani. This was not right. Marc shouldn’t be consorting with someone from another team, and Dani shouldn’t be consorting with Marc. 

As Jorge ruminated about this situation, however, he noticed a slumped figure at the side of the track. He whizzed past so quickly however, he couldn’t see if it was a person or just an abandoned sack or something. So when he went past that corner the next time, he slowed right down to look. This time the person had fallen sideways and it was definitely a human, wearing orange and navy clothes.

Jorge’s first thought was that it was Dani lying in a heap there, as it looked like KTM colours, but surely it couldn’t be him. So the next lap, he slowed to a stop and luckily some marshals were there to hold his bike when he got off, leaving it running. Why hadn’t they noticed the collapsed figure? But the Majorcan didn’t have time to worry about marshals’ activities.

He hurried over and peered at him, seeing to his horror it was Johann Zarco.

“Hey mate, what are you doing?” he asked, shaking the Frenchman’s shoulder. He was shocked at how cold it was.

“I can’t go on any longer,” mumbled the KTM rider. “It’s no good, I’m finished.”

“What??? No you aren’t! Come on, sit up.” Jorge took off his helmet and pulled Johann to a sitting position against the fence. A worried marshal hurried over, mumbling something about not noticing the Frenchman before. Jorge waved him away impatiently, saying, “keep my bike running.”

“Come on,” he said to Johann. “I’ll take you back to your team, you can’t lie here all night.”

“Don’t wanna go back to them, my career’s over.”

“No, it isn’t! Come on, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll take you back and you can lie down in a comfy bed. Doesn’t that sound nicer than lying in the gravel?”

Johann nodded and allowed Jorge to pull him to standing. He staggered and the Honda rider supported him, and walked him to the orange bike.

“Help him get on behind me and I’ll take him to the pits,” he instructed the marshals as he climbed on his bike, putting his helmet on too. So they did, and Jorge felt the drooping figure of the Frenchman against his back. “Hold on then!” he shouted, and luckily he did.

He drove as slowly as he could to the pits. The KTM team were very surprised to see a Repsol Honda pulling in with their rider on the back.

“He needs help!” shouted Jorge to the crew members who milled round the bike. “Take him inside.”

They did exactly what he said and helped Johann into the garage, while Jorge rode off to his own garage.

“What just happened?” asked Marc, who’d seen Jorge bringing the KTM rider back to his garage.

“I’ll tell you later.” The Majorcan handed his bike to a crew member, his helmet to his teammate, and hastened into his own garage to change.

When he’d got out of his race suit and into normal clothes, he hurried off to the KTM garage. “How is Johann?” he asked the nearest mechanic, who just stared at him. “Where’s the manager?” he shouted, trying to get into the garage. But of course he was prevented by the crew.

Eventually Mike Leitner appeared to speak to him. 

“Is Johann alright?” demanded Jorge. “Why weren’t you taking care of him, he’d gone off onto the track and no one noticed!”

Mike however, noticed lurking journalists taking notes, so he made an exception and allowed Jorge into the KTM garage.

“He’s resting in bed, he is not well at all,” he said as he led Jorge past the bikes as quickly as possible, towards the offices.

“Can I see him?”

The manager paused. “I don’t see why not. He’s in the medical room.”

Jorge followed him into the room to see the Frenchman lying in bed covered with a KTM logo duvet. He looked very small and weak, so Jorge sat on a chair next to him.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked cheerily, but was dismayed when Johann jumped and cowered from him. “It’s okay, it’s just Jorge. Your chauffeur.”

That was better because the younger rider smiled faintly at this comment.

“I hope the ride was satisfactory. It was free of charge because I was going that way anyway.” He smiled and Johann smiled more brightly.

“Do you want to know some gossip?” asked Jorge, hoping this was the right thing to say. “It’s about Marc and Dani, not technical stuff.”

Johann nodded.

“They’re in a relationship, and Puig isn’t happy. He thinks they’re sharing data secrets between teams.” Jorge knew it was very unprofessional to talk about this, but it seemed to be cheering up the distressed KTM rider, as he began asking questions about the situation.

So they spent a nice half an hour discussing their teammates’ relationship, which reassured them both.

***

_Summer Holidays_

Over the holidays, it wasn’t as easy for Dani and Marc to meet up as they’d hoped. Their teams had less control over them, but Puig made it difficult because he called Marc at all sorts of odd times of day and night.

If this happened to be when he was with Dani in a compromising position, the older rider had to keep super-quiet and not giggle, and Marc had to keep his voice as neutral as possible. He often pretended he was on the toilet so had to cut the call short. Puig began to wonder if Marc had stomach problems as he gave that excuse so often. Which made it even harder not to giggle when the irate manager called.

And if it wasn’t Puig calling, it was a member of KTM staff asking questions, or their teammates, or even someone from Dorna. It was starting to feel like a plot between all the officials to stop Dani and Marc being together all the time.

Also of course Dani’s schedule as a test rider was different to Marc’s as a full time rider, so he often had testing duties when Marc was free. There was no way Marc could be at tracks when Dani was testing, or he’d have got into deep trouble with his team.

So they had to rely on keeping in touch via phone, text, even video call sometimes: all in all it was very frustrating.

At the KTM test at Austria, Dani had just walked into his hotel room at the circuit, wrapping up a day of testing that had been long and difficult but satisfying, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Fishing it out, he smiled when he saw the name he had given Marc—Dry Cleaner—on his screen. He pushed the button but Marc spoke before he could. 

"I'm being watched!" he hissed.

"What?" Dani frowned. 

"I’m being watched Dani! I know it!" 

"You’re one of the most successful MotoGP riders, babe, you're always being watched." 

"No, I don't mean like that. I mean like...someone is following me, ever since the holiday began. I got a glimpse of him one time and..." 

"And what?" 

"He looks like Cal!" 

"Crutchlow? Why would he follow you?" 

"Puig sent him to make sure I don't see you secretly. He's keeping me away from you, I can't believe he would do this!" Marc kept on ranting and raving, talking faster with every sentence and Dani could tell he was getting upset about everything. 

"Marc, babe, calm down." Dani sat down on the couch. “Take a deep breath." 

Marc did what Dani said and felt himself getting calmer again. 

"You ok?" 

"Yeah, I'm just so angry right now..." 

"I know, just....where are you?" 

"In the living room." 

"Go and lie on the sofa." Dani continued after he heard rustling. “Close your eyes and pretend I'm there with you, holding you or are you holding me?" 

"No, I want your arms around me." 

"Ok, am I lying beneath you or behind you?" 

"Behind me." 

"With my arms wrapped around you, pressing soft kisses against your skin, my fingers slipping underneath your shirt and stroking your chest, tracing your muscles, slowly moving upwards and I drag my thumb over your nipples." 

Marc released a groan that went straight to Dani's cock, he hadn’t meant to go in this direction but he just couldn’t help it. He hadn’t seen Marc for a week and he missed him so much. 

"That feels nice," Marc said. 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah, it always feels nice to have your hands on me, or around me, if you know what I'm saying." 

"I know, just imagine my hand sliding lower then, going into your jeans, past the waistband of your boxers, my lips still kissing your skin." 

Marc kept listening to Dani's voice, low and sultry now and he licked his lips, his hand had a mind of its own and did what Dani said, sliding down his boxers and wrapping around his cock, which was already hard. "Fuck..." 

"You touching yourself?" Dani asked cheekily. 

"Hm, with you talking like that? How could I not..." 

"I'm pushing your jeans and boxers down far enough to get that beautiful cock free." Dani waited until he heard rustling again. “Moving my hand up and down slowly, my thumb flicking the tip." 

Marc gave a trembling breath, moaning, his hips arching up into his hand. 

"Mind if I join you?"

"No, please Dani...." 

"I'm still behind you, moving my hard cock between your arse cheeks, rocking into you, my tip touching the back of your cock while my hand keeps jerking you, a bit faster now. My teeth sink into your skin, just how you like it." 

"God I can feel you, feel your cock sliding between my arse cheeks, touching me, your hand jerking me and your teeth biting me." Marc was breathless now. 

"Feels good?"

"So fucking good..." Marc's breath quickened, his tongue wet his lips and he moaned in that way which made Dani know he was close.

“Then I squeeze your balls with my other hand—” 

The younger rider came with a groan, all over the sofa, the muscles in his chest tensing and relaxing. The sounds he made pushed Dani over also, ruining his shirt in the process. 

They both took a few minutes to come down from their highs, breathing gradually slowing, which was satisfying to listen to. 

"So, how was testing today?" Marc sounded normal.

"What?" Dani was confused. 

"Testing. You tested today right?" 

"God Marc, I need a moment, I'm not twenty six anymore." Dani was half laughing and Marc chuckled, putting the phone on speaker so he could clean himself up while he waited for his boyfriend to catch his breath. 

When Dani was ready to talk, Marc immediately blurted, “when can I actually see you again? I want to—”

“It will be the Austrian race, where I am now.” The older rider had been thinking about this a lot so had the answer ready.

“Ohhhh…that’s a few weeks away.” Marc made one of his loud frustrated sounds, almost deafening his lover.

“Time will fly quickly, don’t worry,” he soothed. “We can make up for lost time, maybe Pol will let us use his motorhome again.”

“Oh yes! Can you talk to him, pleeease?”

Dani could imagine the cute puppy eyes Marc was making, and said, “aww…yes I will.”

“And we can do all this stuff to each other in person, ohhh, I can’t wait, darling Dani.”

“I can’t either. Let’s plan what we’ll do.”

“Oh yeah? More than what we just did?”

“I mean…where we’ll meet. Not the sexy stuff. I’ll have to punish you for rude thoughts.” Dani clapped his hands at the phone, then couldn’t stop giggling. 

“What was that?” 

“Me spanking you.”

“Ohhh so who’s rude now?” Marc’s loud cackle filled the room and Dani quickly took the phone off speaker, in case the hotel management came bursting in to tell him to be quiet. They began planning where and when they’d meet at the Austrian race…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The situation with Johann Zarco played into my hands, because I was trying to find a distraction for Jorge in this story to stop him trying to steal Dani from Marc. I was really worried about Johann when his boss said he was having a nervous breakdown but he said he wasn’t, so hopefully he’s okay.
> 
> Heartfelt thanks to DanisAngel who helped me with this chapter as she always does in such an inspiring way! 💖


	13. An Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marc and Dani meet up at last after a long time apart...

_Before the race in Austria_

Dani and Marc agreed to meet before the press conference in Austria, and were both almost beside themselves with excitement, counting down the days til the big event.

At last the Austrian race was here, and they met outside the circuit office building. There were so many people who wanted to talk to Dani of course—fans, riders, crew—that he could only see Marc at the end of the corridor. He was overwhelmed by the attention, and was relieved that Pol and Miguel came to his assistance, acting like bodyguards around him, fending off the most enthusiastic fans and riders. All the riders took a photo with their arm round Dani, and he began to feel claustrophobic.

Marc watched him from a distance—of course he was also surrounded by fans and he made his way through them absentmindedly.

Slowly the two lovers moved closer to each other, and were ushered into the building where the press conference would be held. Pol and Miguel continued to act as bodyguards and at last Dani and Marc found themselves in a quiet corridor alone, apart from their two friends, who tactfully turned their backs.

“Quick!” whispered Marc, and opened the nearest door, pulling Dani with him. it seemed to be an office and it was in darkness, so no one else could be in there. Marc thanked god, the universe or whoever, to himself to get a few minutes alone with his love.

It was so dark after they shut the door that the two lovers kept tripping over chairs and tables, then finally finding a clear space to stand, they kissed deeply.

"God I've missed you so much," Marc murmured, not giving Dani the chance to respond before his lips were on his again. His hands slid underneath the older rider’s shirt, stroking his muscles. They both tugged at each other’s clothes, trying to undo their trousers, and they were so busy with that, Dani almost tripped over a small table.

Marc pulled him out of danger, laughing. "Sorry about that, I just really missed you." 

"I missed you too." 

They suddenly bumped into what felt like a sofa and fell onto it, each still fumbling with the other’s trousers.

“I want to see you, Marc, we need some light,” whispered Dani.

“There must be a lamp or something.” The Repsol rider moved off him and felt his way round the room until he reached a desk at the side. He ran his hands over the surface, then found a button and hey presto! A small side light came on.

He leapt back to the sofa, almost landing on top of Dani, who giggled breathlessly. “Oh you’re so beautiful,” he moaned, looking up at his lover’s body as they wrestled with each other’s trousers.

“Me? You’re the beautiful, handsome, gorgeous one. You and your cute handsome face,” Marc gasped.

Finally they pushed off the annoying trousers, getting their legs tangled in the process but neither cared—the feeling of their hard cocks rubbing against each other was too good. 

Marc pinned Dani’s hands down above his head and kissed him deeply while Dani's arms slid around his waist, his hands feeling the muscly back and following the curve of his buttocks. Then he slid his hands inside Marc's boxers, grabbed his arse cheeks and pushed against him, rocking upwards. They both groaned desperately.

"Maybe we shouldn't…a dark spot on both our trousers might show…” Marc whispered. 

"I know..." Dani sounded regretful. Pulling his hands back up, he resumed stroking Marc's back while the younger rider scattered kisses over his face, neck, shoulders, chest. 

Faint cheering and clapping filtered through in the background, it must be from some sort of entertainment or presentation outside. There were so many events going on at race weekends, it could be anything.

They kept the rocking to a minimum, just to take the edge off until they could meet again tonight in their hotel rooms and take their time. 

Marc moved back and sat up a little, then bent lower, nibbling at Dani’s nipple before dragging his tongue over it making the test rider moan loudly, his hands yanking urgently at Marc's hair, until they were both overcome and fell into a deep passionate kiss again.

There was a sudden burst of noise at the door to their office hideaway.

“Get out of my way!” barked a voice. “Don’t try and stop me!”

Then Pol’s voice, “No! Stop! You can’t—”

A stream of light from the corridor hit Dani’s eyes first, and he peered round Marc to see a silhouetted figure in the doorway. He squinted til his eyes adjusted, and saw a very angry Alberto Puig.

Marc turned too at the interruption. “What the fuck—”

“Get up! You’re making a show for the crowd.” The angry manager pointed to the window and the two riders strained their necks to look upward. 

A sea of faces peering in the window greeted their horrified eyes. As the crowd saw them look up, many people cheered, made rude signs and noises, whistling and howling.

“That window is one way glass—they can’t see in unless you turn a light on,” explained Puig. “You’ve outed yourselves and made your own disgusting behaviour public knowledge! I hope you’re proud of yourselves.” He pounced towards the window and pulled the blinds shut, after glaring at the spectators.

Pol and Miguel came hurtling into the room just then, and leapt in front of Marc and Dani, who were hastily putting their clothes back on, their desire fleeing in the face of the angry manager, the last person they wanted to see them naked. 

“Well if you didn’t force them to hide their relationship, this wouldn’t have happened would it?” shouted Pol, glaring at Puig.

Miguel stood right behind him, making himself as wide as possible to give Dani and Marc as much privacy as possible.

“Are you that stupid?” snapped the Honda manager. “A relationship between riders of different teams will cause endless problems! Tactically, strategically, the PR situation, the media! They’ve all seen these two now—all over each other like animals!” He looked disgusted.

“There’s nothing wrong with gay relationships—” began Pol, his blue eyes blazing, but he was interrupted by the office door flying open again.

By this time, Dani and Marc were fully clothed and sitting meekly on the sofa, even though Marc was plotting revenge in his heart. Dani was mortified at his hated ex manager seeing him in such a vulnerable position and didn’t want to look at him.

The new visitor was Jorge Lorenzo. He took in the scene with one quick glance, then Puig strode up to him.

“So, did you know about this?” He gestured towards the lovers.

Jorge paused for a moment, then said, “yes, I did.” 

“So why didn’t you tell me?” The manager glared in his face, far too close for comfort.

“It’s none of my business. My teammate is allowed to do what—and who—he chooses. It’s no one else’s business and everyone should keep out of it. Including you.” 

A sudden chill fell over the room as the Majorcan turned on his heel, almost pushing Puig out of the way, and stormed out.

Marc leapt up from the sofa, having recovered from the shock, and faced his manager. “What’s the worst that can happen?” he demanded, unflinching.

“The worst?” shouted Puig. “You’re stupid too! I already told you that I know you’re passing secrets to KTM, now both teams will know I was right! You will both lose your jobs for sure now as you can’t be trusted. And worse than that, the media will think all their Christmases have come at once. A top rider and a failed rider having a relationship—”

“Don’t you call him a failed rider!” shouted Marc, Pol and Miguel at the same time, leaping forward towards Puig, who held his hands up defensively.

Then yet another person ran into the office. 

“Everyone can hear you outside,” said Santi, glaring at the Repsol manager. “It’s time to come and sort things out.”

Dani stood up too, feeling terrified for Marc. He knew he wasn’t a failed rider but his career was in the background now, whereas Marc was the champion, one of the most famous riders in the world. What would happen to his career now he’d been outed so publicly? And what would happen in their teams? He felt dismayed that his and Marc’s careful tactics and their friends’ help in trying to hide their relationship had been all in vain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although AO3 always says 'Chapter by Always Dreaming,' DanisAngel plays a major part in what we write!


	14. A Row

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything erupts. And not in a good way.

Marc was supposed to go into the pre-race press conference with the other riders, as it was just about to start, but before he could do so, Puig frogmarched him away from the room where he had been found kissing Dani, and out into the paddock. 

A scene of chaos met his eyes, as rampant fans waving banners were being held back by marshals and security officers. His fans were shouting “hooray! We love you and Dani!” but other members of the crowd were shouting, “no queers in MotoGP!”

Added to that was the horde of media, thrusting microphones at him and calling out, “Marc, how long have you been with Dani?” “When did it start?” “Why didn’t you tell everyone?” And numerous other intrusive questions.

Puig ignored them all and dragged Marc into the Honda building, shouting, “all top level officials to a meeting in room 5 right now!”

He took Marc into room 5 and paced up and down angrily, til the Repsol officials poured in, milling around in confusion.

“Sit down there!” barked the angry team manager, and taken by surprise, they obeyed him. He made Marc stand in front of them, like a naughty schoolboy, then started addressing the group.

“I’ve called this meeting due to what happened just now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about it. Marc has been meeting up with that KTM test rider, and now it is public knowledge! The Repsol Honda team is now a joke!”

Mr Kuwata said, “the man you mean has a name, Dani.”

“I know!” snapped Puig. “But that sort of thing is disgusting. Marc should be punished!”

“Punished?” said Mr Yokoyama. “What for?”

“Isn’t it obvious! He’s passed secrets to a rival team and made Repsol Honda look like fools! And he’s flaunted his deviant sexuality to the world!”

“Now hang on,” said Kuwata and Yokoyama both together. Their deputies whispered to each other in a shocked manner, and the hum of conversation grew.

“What have you got to say for yourself?” demanded Puig, so close he was almost glaring in Marc’s face.

“What do you mean?” asked the champion coldly.

“What I just said! Are you deaf?” The angry man was red in the face, his eyebrows low over his eyes in a frown. “You’ve been passing our private technical information to KTM via your sexual partner, and helping their development! As well as cavorting around with him in public!”

“I never gave Dani any information about Honda. Why would I?”

“You must have! Because KTM have been getting better and better, how would they do that without our information?”

“Dani’s a brilliant test rider! All their improvements are because of him!”

“I can’t believe that! You’ve been passing secrets! I thought I’d made myself clear that you weren’t to see Dani or go anywhere near him? I took your phone, what more can I do?”

Marc was just about to tell him to go and fuck himself, when the door flew open and Emilio and Santi burst in.

“Don’t speak to him like that!” shouted Marc’s mentor. “Everyone can hear you outside!”

Santi put his arm round Marc protectively, glaring at the team manager.

“Your rider has gone out of control!” snapped Puig, drawing himself up to his full height as he confronted Emilio. “You should set a better example to him!”

“He’s an adult,” retorted Emilio. “He can do what he likes. He fulfils all his contracted duties, it’s none of your business who he is in a relationship with!”

“Disgusting!” shouted Puig in his face. “He’s perverted! We don’t want that sort of thing in our team!”

Emilio pushed him in the shoulder and they squared up to each other. Santi shook his fist at Puig, shouting all manner of insults, and the other managers and deputies leapt from their seats and tried to separate the furious trio.

Marc sidled to the edge of the room, wondering how Dani was feeling after they’d been so publicly outed. He didn’t care what Puig did to him, he knew he wouldn’t lose his job over this—Repsol Honda would be insane to sack their champion rider—but what about next season? What about the notoriously fussy sponsors? And Dani’s KTM team—what did they think? Would they sack him? Why was it so wrong that he was in love with a man? Why couldn’t people just focus on the racing and leave private lives out of it? He sighed and slowly slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, as all the Repsol officials continued shouting and fighting.

****

Jorge strode away from the room where Marc and Dani had been discovered kissing. His heart had sunk when he’d seen them. It was definitely never going to happen between him and Dani now. For so many years, he’d always hoped it would …but Dani was obviously in love with Marc. And on the other side of it, why was his teammate Marc fraternizing with a rider from another team? It was all so messed up. 

He walked faster and faster towards his trailer with his head down, so busy thinking and trying to keep calm that he walked slap bang into someone, pretty hard. 

He was so angry and upset that he just shouted, “can’t you watch where you're going?” instead of apologising.

The person steadied him, saying, “I was! It was you that wasn't.” 

Jorge recognised the voice, so he looked up and saw it was Johann Zarco. 

The Frenchman peered at him more closely and asked, “are you okay? You look upset?”

“I'm fine.” 

“Well you don't look fine. Is this to do with Dani and Marc being outed?”

Jorge stared at him. “How do you know about that?”

“Oh come on, everyone knows! It’s all round the paddock.”

“Why should that upset me?!” spat the Majorcan. “It’s just my teammate and his boyfriend, who cares.”

It was Johann’s turn to stare. Then after a few moments he continued. “Where are you going?” 

“Back to my motorhome.” 

“Come on, I’ll walk you there.” 

“I don’t need an escort!”

The KTM rider sighed deeply. “I’m just trying to help you—the way you helped me the other day, that’s all.”

Jorge relented. “But what if someone sees us? Another Repsol rider with another KTM rider. They might think—things—”

“Well…I’m not going to be a KTM rider for much longer…they are going to replace me with Mika. Don’t tell anyone though.” 

The Majorcan stared at him, then stuttered, “I w—won’t.” His mind began working overtime thinking of Johann being replaced by Mika Kallio. Poor Johann, what would happen to him now? He let the Frenchman lead him back to his motorhome, lost in thought.

****

After Dani was ushered out of the room where he and Marc had been discovered, he was flanked by Pol and Miguel, the two riders doing their best to shield him from the media, who were yelling and almost screaming at him. They were even pulling and pushing at the trio, making Pol and Miguel’s job doubly hard.

The pair took their friend to the pit box, as that was closer than the hospitality area. Dani was still reeling—he and Marc had been seen by so many journalists, fans and other riders. His thoughts moved quickly to Marc and wondering how he was doing. He was so glad the champion had sensible people around like Santi and Emilio.

“Dani?” said a voice.

The test rider blinked and looked up, he’d forgotten his teammates were there as he’d been so lost in thought. He was surprised to see Miguel’s shirt had become loose during the tussle and his tanned, muscly chest was showing, but also that all the KTM team members had arrived and were staring at him. Some were frowning, others looked curious. Realizing that everyone must have heard about what happened by now, Dani cleared his throat.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, fumbling with the hem of his shirt. “I'm so sorry...”

“What are you sorry for?” Pol asked.

“For—what I—what Marc and I did, we didn't know people could see in that window, we should have been more careful...”

Subconsciously, Dani stepped back while talking, creating distance between him and the rest of the team, but Pol took his hand and stopped him.

“It’s okay! You did nothing wrong. We know how careful you and Marc have been all this time.”

“All this time?” someone said, and Pol and Dani turned to the voice. Pit Beirer was wheeling towards them, his eyes on the test rider.

“I'm sorry Pit, I—we couldn't ignore it, we tried but we were just pulled together, like magnets.”

“It’s nothing to apologise for, but you should have told me and Mike.”

Dani looked down at the floor, Pol and Miguel still hovering round him protectively.

“Who knew?” continued Pit.

“Pol and Miguel… Hafiz, Johann…Cal, Jorge, Taka…” Dani counted them on his fingers.

“Just the riders.” Pit sighed. “No crew members? Anyone from Honda?”

“No, except the riders. They kept the teams busy while Marc and I went to meet up somewhere.”

“I see. Puig is going to have a field day with this. He will murder Marc.”

Pol, Miguel and some of the KTM crew bristled at this comment, muttering, “He can’t kill someone for having a gay relationship…”

“And me?” asked Dani.

“What? Why would Puig murder you? And if he tries, we'll murder him first.” Pit said angrily, and agreeing voices came from the group.

Dani frowned. “But...you're not angry? I'm literally sleeping with the enemy, I could leak info to him about KTM...”

“But you haven't, right?”

“No! Of course not, I would never do that.”

“I know you wouldn’t. We all know you’re a decent man and teammate. What you do in your spare time, and with who, is your own concern. As your lover is Marc Marquez…well, that’s something I didn't see coming but if he makes you happy, who am I to stop you.”

“So, you're fine about me and Marc?” Dani carefully asked and Pit nodded. The test rider’s glance moved over the gathered mechanics and others. They all nodded, and relief rushed through his body. “Thank you, everyone.”

Slowly the crew members started milling around, getting back to their tasks. Pit tapped Dani's leg before he moved away, and Pol and Miguel smiled sympathetically at him, before they went off to continue with their responsibilities.

The test rider left the room, retreated to the back of the garage and plonked himself down on a table. The door opened after a few minutes so he sat up straight, expecting a mechanic fetching something from the room, but instead Mike walked in. He came up to Dani, leant against the wall and looked at him. In all the seven years they’d worked together, Dani had never seem him with an expression like that.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Mike asked, sounding hurt.

“The less that knew, the better.” 

“Don't you trust me? You didn't tell me because you were scared I would give away the secret?”

“No, Mike...”

“We worked together for seven years, I started with you when you entered 250cc, when you were recovering from your broken ankles. You were so insecure about the future, because you couldn’t even ride the bike. But I knew you could do it. Because I knew what you are capable of. And more importantly, I trusted you.”

“Please don't be angry...”

“I'm not, I'm just disappointed.” He smiled faintly. “But I understand why you wanted to keep it quiet. The prejudice these days...” He rolled his eyes.

“Thank you.”

The two friends sat in silence for a few moments, then Mike spoke: “So, you and Marc? When did this start?”

“Well, I suppose it was really when…” Dani began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my eternal gratitude to DanisAngel26 💖🌺🌼


	15. A Free-For-All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath, of Dani and Marc being outed, begins!

As expected, after the very public outing of Marc and Dani, the media went into a frenzy. They appeared at every corner, every race, they stalked the two lovers at home, when travelling, at circuits…Honda and KTM had to employ bodyguards for the couple, both Dani and Marc had two each who worked in shifts.

The media just wanted information but there were also two groups of fans. The kindly but intrusive group who supported Dani and Marc, shouting messages of encouragement and waving rainbow flags. They sent little gifts of photos of the couple in heart frames, inspirational messages, all sorts of nice things.

But then there was the other group. The not so nice ones who were homophobic, who felt insulted that MotoGP riders should dare to be gay and ‘spoil their macho sport.’ They shouted rude comments, even threw things, which were luckily deflected by supportive people nearby, and wrote abusive messages on social media.

Repsol Honda and KTM had their work cut out to fend off this huge surge of attention, and each team called meeting after meeting to deal with it. The first was to brief all riders about what to say to the media in order to follow the team line, the next would be the crew, and so on. The meetings all took place in the same day at the next race, which was Britain.

KTM instructed all their riders to tell everyone that they fully supported Dani, whatever he did, and were a team open to anyone, no matter their race, colour, sexual orientation, disability, and every member of the team would be welcomed and treated equally.

All the riders, even Mika and Johann, agreed to this and Dani, who was guest of honour, felt supported and loved. He was surprised at those particular teammates, as they’d been awkward in the past about the situation, but maybe they’d seen the light. Johann in particular had seemed a lot happier recently. Of course Pol, Miguel and Hafizh cheered when the KTM managers announced their decision, and they clapped Dani on the back, milling round him like fans.

“It’s exciting!” exclaimed Pol. “What’s your secret to hooking the best rider in the world today? Is it your aftershave?”

Dani giggled, then was surprised to see Miguel’s shirt had come undone again and his muscly chest was showing. The Portuguese rider really needed a larger size in shirts.

“Calm down Pol,” said Mika, the oldest of the group. “It is a serious subject and we must prepare to be interrogated by all those people out there.” He waved a hand at the window to indicate the rest of the world.

“Of course. Sorry Dani.”

“Don’t worry, I know you all support me.” The little test rider grinned round at his friends. “Thank you all for being so loyal. Thank you from both Marc and I.”

The others oohed and ahhed at the first time Dani had said _Marc and I_.

“Wedding bells,” said Hafizh, the only married man out of the riders, with a wink. The others chuckled and Dani blushed.

***

Honda, however, took a more authoritarian approach, and told their riders and crew they weren’t to talk to anyone about Marc and Dani. If pressed, they were to tell people it was a private matter and not to be discussed. Marc wasn’t even invited to the rider meeting.

“That’s not very fair,” Cal piped up after the bosses had told them what to say, and the others nodded.

“People want to know we support Marc and Dani, at least I do,” agreed Stefan. He hadn’t forgotten Cal’s recent attack on his riding talent, but didn’t want to let it stop him being open minded.

“So do I! Are you saying I don’t?” Cal bristled and everyone groaned.

“We all support them,” said Taka peaceably. “We’re just not allowed to talk about them.”

Before Cal and Stefan could reply however, Alberto Puig interrupted. He’d been there listening, as he was the rider manager, and he was frowning deeply.

“Well I think this is wrong!” he barked.

Taka and Stefan rolled their eyes at each other.

“Marc should be dismissed at once, we don’t want him sullying Honda’s reputation!” shouted Puig.

The senior managers had left by now and it was just Puig and the riders.

“What the fuck are you talking about, he’s the best rider in the world!” snapped Cal.

“Yeah, they can’t sack Marc for being gay!” agreed Stefan.

“It’s not them, it’s the sponsors! They are all withdrawing their support for Honda and we’ll be in a difficult financial state if they do!” continued Puig. “They don’t approve of a gay rider, however good he is.”

“What?” shouted everyone, standing up.

“So he has to go, and good riddance.”

The others exchanged furious glances but before they could speak, the previously silent Jorge said:

“Marc will not be leaving Repsol. If he leaves, so will I and you’ll have no riders.” He glared at Puig, who flushed like a beetroot.

“How ridiculous! You’re stupid! You’ll never get another job at your age!” shouted the rider manager as the Majorcan glared at him. “Repsol Honda needs a change of riders and managers! If I was the CEO, I’d make sure that all riders did as they were told and—”

“Well, fuck you then,” interrupted Jorge, and strode out. The other riders exchanged glances and followed him, leaving Puig shouting to himself in the meeting room.

***

In the following days and weeks, all MotoGP riders were hounded by the media asking for statements about Marc and Dani. They made a particular target of Jorge, as they knew he was tactless and said whatever came into his head at the time. Also Cal, who was the same.

But they were sadly mistaken. Cal just talked about himself and his aspirations, and Jorge just said he supported Dani and Marc wholeheartedly and love is love. No one could get any other comments out of him.

Dani knew all that was going on and was touched by the fact that Jorge, his oldest enemy, refused to say anything against him.

Marc was upset by his team’s old fashioned attitude, especially Puig’s, and Dani had his hands full comforting his boyfriend, which was usually a lot of fun of course!

“I don’t know why they treat me so differently now,” complained the champion as he lay in Dani’s arms in his Geneva house. Puig couldn’t stop them meeting up outside racing circuit life, especially now they were out and proud, so Marc spent a lot of time at Dani’s house with him.

“Neither do I. My team are the same as ever. Except Pol keeps asking when the wedding is.” He chuckled.

“Your team is so much nicer,” sighed Marc. “I wish I was at KTM, it sounds so much more—” He suddenly sat up. “Hey! Why don’t I go to KTM after my next contract ends? I’d be in the team, you’d be the test rider!” His broad cat grin was back, and his dark chocolate eyes shone.

“That would be lovely, but…wouldn’t it cause an explosion in Honda?”

The younger rider flung himself back on the bed again. “That happens every day! Puig thinks he runs the place. It’s pathetic.”

“How much longer will that go on though, if he’s annoying them?” Dani felt a shard of ice in his heart when he thought of his spiteful ex-manager.

“Hopefully not much at all!” Marc grinned, and rolled towards his boyfriend again, and they got all tangled up in the duvet with each other, giggling loudly.

***

Dani saw an interview on TV between Jorge and an intrusive journalist at the San Marino race. No matter how hard the man pressed to get an opinion from the Majorcan about the new couple in MotoGP, Jorge steered the conversation back to the current season, his hopes for the next races, and well away from his teammate’s love life. He also said just once that he believed everyone was equal, whoever they loved, and should be respected.

The KTM test rider was touched by his former enemy’s diplomacy, and decided a visit to Jorge was long overdue. He must go when he got the chance, in order to thank him. He knew how tactless Jorge could be and had dreaded his comments, but he’d been surprisingly supportive.

He finally got the chance at Aragon and knocked on the Repsol motorhome door decorated with 99. Standing there waiting for an answer, he mused on the fact that this motorhome had once been his…in name anyway, he was sure it was a new model fitted to Jorge’s requirements.

The door opened slowly, and there stood Johann Zarco, wearing long shorts. His hair was wet, and he put his hand up to his neck in surprise at seeing his teammate.

Dani stepped back, also in surprise, and looked up at the side of the trailer. There was definitely a 99 on there, not a 5.

“Come in,” said the Frenchman casually, ushering him through the door. Dani was so confused that he just followed.

“Would you like something to drink?” asked Johann. He was still holding his neck. “I’m just cooking dinner, sorry.” 

Dani realised he could smell some kind of meat dish roasting, with maybe potatoes and other vegetables, and wondered if the younger rider had been splashed by hot oil or something, which was why he had his hand on his neck.

“Er—yes—orange juice?” The KTM test rider sat nervously on the sofa, wondering what was going on. He’d heard that Johann Zarco was at Aragon, despite not having a bike to ride because Mika Kallio was competing, but he’d thought he’d brought his own motorhome. Maybe he hadn’t and was staying with Jorge for some reason.

Dani looked round the room to see various coats, shoes and caps lying around. Some were Honda colours, some were KTM and some were neutral.

Johann bustled round the kitchen seeing to the dinner, and getting glasses and juice while his visitor watched. He obviously needed both hands to cook and pour drinks, and Dani noticed a strange bruise on the younger rider’s neck where his hand had been earlier.

Then Dani suddenly heard a shower, that he hadn’t realised was on, turn off and a door clicked shut.

The lounge door opened and in walked a naked man with a towel over his head, drying his hair and saying, “after dinner, we could go to the—”

Dani would recognise that voice anywhere, and his eyebrows shot into his hair as all the pieces fell into place in his mind.

“Jorge, we’ve got a visitor,” interrupted Johann quickly, and the Majorcan whipped the towel off his head and tied it round his waist in a second.

The three riders stared at each other in confusion for a few moments.

“I dunno, Jorge,” said Dani. “You said you’d marry me in 2012, now you’re cheating on me with a Frenchman.”

They all burst out laughing and the tension was broken. 

The rest of the evening was spent pleasantly, talking about how intrusive the media were, how people should be more open minded and how they should focus on racing, not relationships. 

Dani, however, was internally reeling from the sudden discovery of the new couple, and couldn’t wait to tell Marc. Or could he? Maybe he should be more discreet—even though Marc had been good at keeping his relationship with Dani secret, he was generally a gossip. If Puig found out yet another Honda rider was in a relationship with a KTM rider, all hell would break loose and it might affect Marc’s career even more. Dani wanted to protect his boyfriend from the tyrannical rider manager at all costs.


	16. A Demand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions come to a head!

After that nice break in the middle at Aragon, the harassment continued for Marc and Dani. Their fans who supported them were very kind but they were rather intrusive, getting everywhere to push gifts and messages at the couple. The fans who hated homosexuality in MotoGP were obnoxious, jeering and howling at Marc every time he was on the podium. Even the other riders got annoyed with them—the ones on the podium with Marc tried to tell the hecklers to shut up, which only made them worse. Then the media were both of these things—intrusive and obnoxious. 

Marc and Dani couldn’t go anywhere without being accosted, although obviously it was easier for Dani as he didn’t go to every race and Marc did. Jorge suffered the same—he was confronted everywhere, as were all the KTM and Honda riders. So the situation became unmanageable and every event became a scrum.

Dani decided to go along to the race in Thailand, because he thought Marc was going to win the title there and he wanted to be around. Even if he wasn’t allowed to be near him, at least he could watch and be in the same place as Marc. 

However, after Puig heard this news about Dani visiting Thailand, he cornered Marc. “You’re not to see him!” he shouted. “You’re not to see Dani. It will just cause more problems between KTM and Honda, and the sponsors and the public!”

Marc pulled his arm away from the rider manager’s clutching hand. He didn’t want to shout or disagree with Puig, but he was getting very near the end of his tether. He was frustrated that he couldn’t see Dani when he wanted to, only when he could slip away between races, and he wanted to win the title at this race and not keep stringing it out. He wanted to relax and have fun in the last races of the season. 

***

So when the race started, he threw his anger and frustration into it and fought hard with Fabio Quartararo. Even though he knew the young guy wanted to win, he didn’t mind taking the win from him at the last minute because he was so angry with the Dani situation, Puig’s attitude and the homophobic fans and everyone interfering in his life.

So he celebrated the title as enthusiastically as he could, and enjoyed it but when he got to the podium however, he wanted Dani with him. So he texted him as soon as he could—he intended to bring his lover on to the podium with him, and show everyone that he didn’t care what they thought. He was together with Dani and no one could stop them.

As Marc waited in the room before the podium, Dani walked nervously towards him. Marc smiled and took his hand instead of kissing him, even though he wanted to. He thought kissing would be too much in the present situation, but he only managed to hold Dani’s hand for one minute before Puig came marching up to them, in his usual cocky way.

“I said you’re not to see him!” he shouted at the champion.

This man had got on Marc’s last nerve and he gripped Dani’s hand tighter. The test rider took the cue from him and did not back away from the angry rider manager.

“Dani is coming with me on to the podium to celebrate my title,” said Marc loudly and clearly.

“Oh no he isn’t!” shouted Puig. “It’s disgusting! You’re putting off all the sponsors with your illegal relationship!”

“It’s not illegal,” said Marc. “It’s perfectly legal. We’re both consenting adults and we’re in a relationship.” He lifted Dani’s hand in Puig’s face.

The rider manager went even redder.

“And you can’t tell me what to do,” said Dani cheekily. “I’m not under your control anymore.” And he stood glaring defiantly at his ex-manager, who seemed to inflate with rage.

“You will do as I say!” he barked. “I’m not having any of this disgusting homosexuality on my podium!”

A very shocked silence fell over the room.

“It’s not your podium,” said Jorge, stepping up to defend his teammate and his friend. “It’s Marc’s. He’s won and he deserves the eighth title.” He patted Marc on the shoulder as everyone else watched the stand-off.

“It is not right that two men are having a relationship, it’s disgusting!” shouted Puig. “You should not be flaunting it to the world. It’s not normal, it’s not right and if I had my way they’d both be in prison.”

There was a gasp from everybody in the room, including the other podium riders, Fabio and Maverick, who looked at each other in horror.

“Why are you here anyway, Jorge?” said Puig. “You shouldn’t be going on the podium.” 

“I came up to support my teammate,” he replied and smiled at the couple. “For some reason I thought he might need it.”

Marc noticed that Dani winked at the Majorcan, and wondered what was going on between them. Especially as Jorge was blushing.

But Marc shook his head and turned back to Puig. “You’re a homophobic idiot,” he said clearly, and there was a round of applause from everyone—all the crew members and even the other two riders. 

Puig opened and shut his mouth with no words coming out, too angry to speak, then a couple of the Honda managers glided up to him.

“We’ll be speaking to you later, Alberto,” said one of them coldly.

“It’s not normal that male riders are having a relationship,” he shouted, ignoring them. “It should be a man and a woman.”

Marc was distracted at that moment by Fabio and Maverick patting him on the shoulder and shaking his hand, and he turned away from the angry man, even though he still held Dani’s hand.

Puig was still ranting and raving, but was very surprised when Jorge took hold of his arm and said:

“It is normal. Lots of people have relationships with people of the same sex. Including myself.” And he brandished his phone in Puig’s face.

Dani deduced that Jorge must be showing him pictures of himself and Johann snogging, or something. He hoped it wasn’t anything more explicit. Puig’s mouth dropped open.

The rider manager leapt towards the Majorcan and grabbed him by the throat. Dani and Marc tried to pull him away, but their bodyguards sprang into action, got hold of the raving Puig and marched him out of the room.

“You may go up onto the podium now,” said the official in charge, with a big grin. “Marc, take your boyfriend with you.” 

Third placed Maverick walked out first to applause, then Fabio, and then Marc wearing his _8 Times Champion_ t-shirt and holding Dani’s hand. When they stepped out there was an uproar of cheering and booing. Obviously the fans on Dani and Marc’s side were cheering as loudly as they could, and the homophobic fans were booing as loudly as they could, so it was absolutely deafening. The media were taking constant photos, so the sound of clicking and random flashes going off added to the overwhelming occasion.

***

After the podium, Marc and Dani rested in their hotel room before the party to celebrate Marc’s title, but the new champion slipped out to visit his team mate to thank him for his support. He was touched that the normally distant Jorge had been so understanding.

“Hey Marc.” The Majorcan opened the door to his hotel suite cautiously and Marc was surprised to see what a mess it was. The other occasions he’d been to Jorge’s place, everything had been uncluttered, like a museum. But today there were plates and glasses on the coffee table, coats hanging up on the hooks by the door, all sorts of mess.

“I wanted to say thanks for supporting me and Dani at the podium. Puig is such an arse.”

Jorge nodded. “I can’t disagree. He’s a homophobic jerk.”

They laughed a little.

“I must tidy up though, I don’t mind if you stay but it’s too messy in here.” He whirled round sorting everything out while the 8 times champion watched in surprise. Soon the room was neat and tidy again and he started setting the table for two.

“Are you expecting someone, then?” blurted Marc.

“You weren’t listening when I was arguing with Puig before the podium, were you?”

“Seems not! Who is it? What’s her name?”

“ _His_ name.”

“Ohhh! It’s a boy.” Marc giggled, still high from winning his title. 

“Yes, he’s a _man,”_ corrected Jorge.

“I’ll leave you alone to seduce him then.” Marc cackled even louder and skipped out of the door.

Bounding back into his room, he jumped onto Dani’s bed, startling the test rider as he was reading a cycling magazine.

“Jorge’s got a boyfriend!” he exclaimed.

“I know, Marc. Pay attention,” Dani replied with a giggle. “Didn’t you see what happened before the podium?”

“Obviously not!” He bounced up and down on the bed, his excitement level getting even higher. “Who is it? Is it a rider? Or some other guy? Maybe a model?”

“I’m not telling you. You’ll have to work it out yourself.” 

“You are a big tease, Señor Pedrosa!”

Dani jumped up too and they bounced together on the bed holding hands.

***

Before the next race in Japan, Marc was called to see the Repsol Honda bosses. He set off wondering what the meeting could be about, but was surprised to see Jorge waiting outside the door to the manager’s office as well.

“What are you here for?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Jorge shrugged. “Something to do with our boyfriends I suppose.” They both giggled.

They didn’t have to wait long before the door opened and an assistant called them into the room, where they saw the top men, Mr Kuwata and Mr Fujita, with Puig, all sitting with stony faces behind a desk. Marc felt a slight quiver of nerves in his stomach but his brain reasoned, _I’ve just won Honda’s eighth championship, what can they possibly have to complain about? Is it something to do with Jorge?_

“Good morning gentlemen,” said Fujita. “We’ve called you here today to discuss the situation with the media and your fans, who are obsessed with your private lives. Mainly you and Dani, Marc, but the news about your private life has leaked out too, Jorge.”

Marc braced himself ready to defend his relationship, and he could feel Jorge’s hand just lightly touching his arm.

“What about me and Dani?” said the champion, unable to resist standing up for himself. The pressure on his arm from Jorge increased slightly in a warning manner.

“Well obviously, we want to do our best to protect you from the fans who have bad intentions towards you, and from all the media’s intrusive questions,” continued the administration manager.

Puig was glaring at Marc and Jorge, then suddenly spoke.

“So we’ve had these contracts prepared for you to sign, which say you won’t be seen with your boyfriends in public and keep them strictly private, only seeing them when you’re not at races or on official Repsol Honda business. If you sign, you will be given a substantial increase in wages, not to do with your rider employment of course, the extra money will come under Sundries.” He finished his speech with a flourish and looked at the pair triumphantly.

Both riders glared at him.

“What is this, the Middle Ages?” snapped Jorge. “I’m going to see Johann whenever I want thank you very much, I’m not taking a bribe to pretend I’m not who I am—”

“And I’m going to see Dani when I want!” interrupted Marc. “I’m very proud of our relationship, I’m not going to be paid off to sneak away and hide somewhere, just because a few prejudiced people can’t cope with the fact that men have relationships with each other!” His voice got louder and louder as he talked and Jorge nodded along in agreement.

There was a long, awkward pause where Puig’s face got redder and redder, and the other managers sat more and more quietly.

“Well done gentlemen,” said Mr Kuwata. “We wanted to see how committed you were to your relationships. Repsol Honda is a company which focuses on including people in their activities and programmes. We include people of every race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender and—”

“What?” shouted Puig. “You can’t say that, you’ve got to think of the sponsors and the reputation of the company!”

“Well, we’ve said to our sponsors, these are our riders and if you can’t handle who they are, please move on, we don’t want you to be our sponsors anymore. And of course there was a long list of companies fighting each other to become Repsol Honda’s sponsors, and be seen as modern, forward thinking companies.”

Puig leapt to his feet angrily and shook his fist at Marc and Jorge.

“Mr Puig!” shouted Kuwata, standing up. “We’ve already warned you about your behaviour and language when speaking to Marc, Dani and Jorge. We are a tolerant company and we don’t have room for people with prejudiced views like yours!”

“Therefore we are giving you one month’s notice,” continued Fujita, also standing up. “You can work it out in the administration department, but you mustn’t have any contact with our riders because you’re a risk to their lives, as you showed when you attacked Jorge in Thailand.”

“What?” shouted Puig, redder in the face than ever. He climbed over the desk and headed for Marc and Jorge, who braced themselves for attack. “These two have ruined my career with their depraved ways!”

The two riders stepped forward angrily, but Marc’s bodyguard was standing in the corner of the room so he leapt towards the group, subdued Puig, and marched him out of the door.

“Good riddance!” said Jorge, glaring after him.

“We’re very sorry you had to put up with his behaviour, we’ve heard about everything he did to you, Marc,” continued Fujita. “Including confiscating your phone, using obscene language and bullying you.”

He turned to Jorge. “And we’re very sorry he tried to strangle you, luckily it didn’t cause any lasting effects.”

“No,” said the Majorcan. “I’m a pretty tough guy.”

“You’re both safe from his harassment now.”

The pair grinned, and then hugged each other, with a lot of back slapping.

“So, Johann Zarco, eh?” said Marc as they left the room. He hadn’t missed the comment Jorge had made earlier.

The older rider just smiled smugly.


	17. A Night to Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gala evening is full of happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was 99% written by DanisAngel26 so she deserves all the praise today!

The last three races played out much the same as the Thailand one did—cheering, booing, interrogations—but there was no Puig to annoy everyone. He’d stormed off in a huff from Repsol, muttering about starting a new job in some other company.

Then at last it was time for the end of year gala with the presentation of the prizes.

Marc and Dani were sharing a room in the luxurious hotel across the street from where the gala was to be held. Marc was already dressed and busy tying his tie, while Dani, just dressed in chinos and button-down shirt, attached his cuff-links, his eyes wandering towards Marc and he chuckled, making the champion stop what he was doing and frown.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just, seeing how many official events you have to go to in a year wearing a suit, I’d have thought you’d know how to tie a tie.” He smiled.

“I never could, Mama used to help me but she’s probably already at the gala with Papa.”

Dani finished fastening his cuff-links, walked up to his lover and tied his tie for him, gazing into each other’s eyes. “You must be proud of Alex, Moto2 Champion.” 

Marc instantly grinned and bounced on his feet, making the shorter rider laugh.

“I am so proud of him, I always knew he could do it, I’m actually happier for him than for myself.”

“Really?” Dani frowned, stepping back. “You made history today winning your eighth title.”

“I know, but without sounding big headed, it’s not the first time.”

Dani just rolled his eyes and stepped back, only to be grabbed by Marc and pushed up against the large mirror. They kissed deeply, then afterwards, both smiled.

“You going to hold my hand when we walk down the red carpet?” Marc whispered.

“Of course I am, I was a bit wary of showing affection earlier but that was before what happened in Japan.” Dani smiled. “Wish I’d been there, I’d love to have seen his face when the bosses sacked him.”

“He went all red, like a ripe tomato! Wish they’d splatted him! I really believed them when they showed us the contract, but it was just a trap.”

“And it worked beautifully.”

They smiled and shared another kiss before they finished getting ready and left, making their way to the elevator, down to the lobby and outside. The closer the red carpet came, the more nervous Dani felt. When they saw a couple of other riders ahead, they followed, hearing the shutters of the cameras and Dani slowed.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Marc said. “Take my hand?” 

Dani nodded and did so, and lacing their fingers, Marc’s thumb rubbed circles on his and it calmed him down. He became relaxed enough not to freak out when all eyes were suddenly on them. He felt very grateful the media weren’t allowed to ask questions but their faces and smiles, and the many flashes said enough about what they thought.

Taking their spot in front of the FIM logo, both riders smiled and let the media have their pictures. After that was done, they walked inside and then Dani realized he’d been holding his breath when they were being photographed.

“You can breathe now,” Marc said as he’d noticed this. He always noticed everything about Dani—he always had.

Dani smiled shyly, and Marc brought his hand to his lips to press a kiss against the back. 

As they walked into the room, it was already quite full, however, no one seemed to be giving them much attention, fortunately. Since the Puig outburst in Japan, Dani had been at Marc’s side frequently in the box, giving the other riders and everyone else enough opportunity to get used to them as a couple. So now they didn’t even blink anymore when the newly crowned champion and the KTM test rider walked around with their fingers laced together.

Threading their way through the crowd, Marc quickly spotted his mama and papa, talking to Alex, so he pulled Dani towards them, but when they were halfway they were suddenly faced with a very nervously looking Cal. Marc stopped so abruptly that Dani bumped into him.

“Are you ok?” Marc inquired.

“Yeah—just—erm—wanted to tell you something,” Cal said, but when he didn’t continue, Dani frowned.

“What?” he asked the English rider.

“Just that, you know, I haven’t always been nice to you, Dani, and maybe I wasn’t very...happy about you two first, I do consider you both friends and I wish the very best for you both...in the future...as a couple.” 

“Okay...” Marc said uncertainly.

“That is great to know, thank you Cal,” said Dani politely.

“Sure, sorry, I’m going to get a drink now.” The gruff rider walked away and the couple heard him mutter, “god knows, I bloody need one.”

The lovers looked at each other and laughed, before continuing on their way to Marc’s family. When they reached them, the champion was enveloped by his mama and papa and Alex and without hesitation, the same treatment was given to Dani. They chatted for a few moments before everyone was ushered inside the main hall. 

Dani caught sight of another couple, Johann and Jorge, who were sitting close together and whispering, a soft shy smile on Jorge’s lips and Dani smiled too. They made a very unlikely couple, and even after all these months, the test rider was still amazed at how well they went together. They’d both been through difficult times recently, but seemed to support each other in exactly the right way. Especially now Johann rode the LCR Honda, he and Jorge talked endlessly about bike specs and riding styles, often arguing but equally as often giggling.

Roser and Julia were sitting behind their sons, Dani of course next to Marc and once the gala started, Marc’s hand found a way to Dani’s, lacing their fingers again.

First to be announced were the Moto3 awards, and the presenters slowly made their way through the list of riders before they came to Moto2, with yet another roll of prize winners.

Marc was jiggling around in his seat with excitement, waiting for his brother’s name, and at last the presenters came to the third, second and champion riders. First up was Augusto Fernandez, the Spaniard was called to the podium and given his award, before the second placed rider of the season’s name was announced. 

Dani scanned the room and his glance fell on Valentino, a huge smile appearing on the blond Italian’s face when his little brother walked onto the stage. He clapped loudly and Dani smiled. Luca had enjoyed an amazing year with several wins and podiums, making it hard for Alex to confirm the title until the last race, but eventually the Spaniard got the better of him and won. 

As soon as it was Alex’ turn to go up there, Marc squeezed Dani’s hand and sat up straight, a broad grin on his face, and the test rider chuckled.

Alex soaked up the attention—the cheers, applause, whistles—and waved the Moto2 trophy for winning the championship. His eyes searched the audience and when he saw Marc, the grins on both the brothers’ faces got wider almost doubling. 

Soon after that it was time for the MotoGP riders awards. The presenters worked their way up the list of names until they reached the rookie of the year, which was to nobody’s surprise, Fabio Quartararo!

Dani leaned into Marc, even though they were shoulder to shoulder anyway.

“Fabio is going to be a serious threat for you next year.”

“I know.” Marc nodded. “I’ll welcome it though, the more competition the better.”

It wasn’t long after that Dani had to let Marc go to receive his prize, everyone watched a recap of the 2019 season, then eventually the newly crowned champion was handed the little plate to fix on the trophy. Again he wore the widest smile and Dani felt enormously proud of his boyfriend. 

During the whole ceremony, he couldn’t take his eyes off his champion, even when the presenters were talking. It wasn’t every day he saw his lover in a tux, which was a shame because he looked so hot—even more than usual! Dani felt a bit hot under the collar himself and shifted in his seat, trying to focus on what the presenter was saying but his eyes kept straying to Marc.

So when there was a break in proceedings after the MotoGP presentation, he quickly made his way over to the rooms where everyone assembled after going on stage, and searched for Marc. When he found him, he pulled him into a vacant room, closed the door and kissed him passionately.

“How about we get out of here and have a private party?” he whispered after they paused for breath.

Marc purred, “I thought you’d never ask.” He smirked but his eyes turned a shade darker as he took Dani’s hand. Then he led him out of the room, dodging all the riders, assistants, visitors and officials milling round in the corridors.

***

Dani and Marc quickly crossed the street to their hotel and ducked into the elevator. Marc frantically pushed the buttons to close the doors and the right floor number. As soon as the doors closed, he was grabbed and pushed against the wall, the newly crowned champion releasing a gasp. Dani was on him instantly, hands slipping in his back pockets and pushing him against the cold metal, Dani rocked his hips forward, making Marc groan when he felt the older rider was already hard.

Just when their lips were about to meet, the elevator doors slid open again, and they were confronted with the Espargaro brothers. Aleix started to say, “hey, congratulations again on your—” but Pol, seeing the lovers’ frustrated expressions, hastily bundled his brother into the elevator.

“See you later, guys, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” he exclaimed as he and Aleix went giggling off to fetch some things they’d left at the gala.

Marc grabbed Dani’s hand and dragged him to his room, opening the door and pulling the other inside. As soon as the door closed, their lips found each other and hands slipped underneath clothes, tugging to get them off. When the need to breathe became unbearable, both pulled away, focussing on getting the other naked and consequently leaving a trail of clothes to the bedroom. 

Once there, Dani pushed Marc on to the huge double bed on his back. Looking down at his lover, he smiled, crawled up and caged Marc with his hands and knees. Hovering over him and looking at him with hunger in his eyes, Marc trembled at the sight of his gorgeous boyfriend.

Leaning down, Dani kissed his cheek before trailing his lips on a path to his shoulder, kissing the scar left behind by the surgery, then his collarbone and then sank lower to drag his tongue over one nipple, as his thumb and index finger tweaked the other. Marc gasped, his hips arching upwards and the tip of his hard cock brushing Dani’s muscles, making him smile and he looked up.

“Impatient, _mi campeon?”_ he asked.

Marc just released a breath and a laugh, he felt lightheaded and closed his eyes, feeling the bed shift and cold breath ghosting over his cock, before a tongue licked up the pre-cum there. Dani wrapped his lips around it, and sank down as far as he could before moving up again, tongue curling around the tip and dragging through the slit. 

Marc felt fingers at his hole, his eyes flew open and he spread his legs wider and arched his hips, releasing such a wanton groan that Dani’s own cock twitched. 

The older rider smiled and pushed a finger inside him, keeping his lips wrapped around Marc’s cock while he worked him open enough. With two fingers inside him, stroking his prostate, Marc was soon a panting mess, but then Dani pulled back. The KTM test rider raked his eyes over the vision he caused, the beautiful tanned body with a sheen of sweat covering it and a slight blush. Moving over him, he hitched Marc’s leg over his hip and aligned his cock against the opening, then slowly pushed inside him, making them both groan.

“Fuck yeah...” gasped the champion.

Dani leant down and kissed his lips briefly before he leant back, grabbed Marc’s thighs and pushed his legs up and out before starting to move. Slowly at first, then moving faster and faster until he was slamming inside him hard and deep before pulling almost all the way out again. He kept a close eye on Marc, his moans and whimpers and his body language, trying his best to keep his own orgasm at bay and when Marc started to jerk, Dani slowed, making the Honda rider release a whine.

“It’s ok baby...” He whispered and pulled out of him completely. “It’s all about you tonight. Turn around.”

Marc groaned and allowed himself to be manhandled on to his front.

“Arse up.” Dani shuffled a pillow under his front to help him, then grabbed his arse cheeks and stroked them, gently pulling them apart. Shuffling forward, he took himself in hand and rubbed his pre-cum leaking tip over Marc’s hole a couple of times, before pushing the tip in. Sinking into him slowly, Dani’s head fell back, his eyes closed with pleasure, especially when a guttural moan came from Marc’s lips. The KTM rider knew this was Marc’s favourite position due to the deep angle, and took his time, rocking into him and pulling almost all the way out before sinking inside again, as before.

“So good...love your cock so much, Dani baby...” Marc’s voice was wildly unsteady.

Dani rocked a bit faster, grabbing Marc’s hips to pull him over his cock when he rocked inside him. He put one hand around his lover’s waist and pulled him up and against his chest, rubbing his nipple as Marc turned his head and kissed at him, messily, making both giggle a bit.

Thrusting harder inside him, Dani curled his hand around the younger rider’s cock, his thumb slid away the pre-cum, and he began to jerk him off in time with his thrusting.

It didn’t take long for Marc to cum, his body jolting in Dani’s arms. Unable to keep himself up, he rested his head on the pillow while Dani grabbed the headboard, slamming inside him a couple of times before he filled the younger rider up with his seed, making Marc’s muscles clamp down on Dani’s cock and milking him for every drop he had.

“Congratulations on your eighth championship,” panted Dani with a grin. “Was it all worth it?”

Marc cackled sleepily, mumbling, “just for this reward…”

“I’m so proud of you.” He slumped down next to the champion and they cuddled up, glowing with effort and happiness.

“Marry me then,” whispered Marc into Dani’s neck.

“What?”

“I said, _marry me._ Then no one can come between us, ever.”

Dani’s heart beat harder. “Are you being serious?”

“Of course.” Marc peered at him as they lay entangled in the rumpled bed.

Dani thought for a while. “Marc Pedrosa does sound good, I think we—” He felt an elbow in his ribs.

“I was thinking, Dani Marquez.”

“Either or.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It hadn’t occurred to me before, but...yes!”

They fell into each other’s arms again, kissing like the newlyweds they would be in time.

 

THE END.


End file.
